Patients will be offered remote hospital appointments from the ‘comfort of their own home or their desk’ in a bid to slash huge NHS waiting lists.
Consultations with specialist doctors will be hosted by a new virtual hospital trust named NHS Online, which will not have a physical site and is expected to launch in 2027.
It will allow health chiefs to spread demand for care more evenly across the country, with patients able to easily see medics ‘miles away’ if waits are shorter.
Those who prefer face-to-face appointments will still be able to have them.
It follows the widespread adoption of remote GP appointments during the pandemic, which critics warned alienated elderly patients and increased the risk of potentially life-threatening diseases being missed.
Sir Keir Starmer unveiled the plans during his speech to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool yesterday [TUE], where he said ‘a new world is coming’.
He added: ‘In decades to come, I want people to look back on this moment as the moment we renewed the NHS for a new world.
‘Waiting times cut for every single person in this country.’
Health secretary Wes Streeting
The Government estimates the virtual ‘hospital’ will generate an extra 8.5 million appointments over three years.
Staff will assess patients’ needs through the NHS App once they have had an appointment with a GP and received a referral for specialist care.
Users will be able to book a first appointment with a specialist from around the country online, and then chat to them using video or via phone if they prefer.
NHS England said using country-wide doctors will help to spread out demand, with patients no longer held back by long local waiting lists.
Patients will also be able to book in for recommended tests or scans and be able to track their prescriptions.
Initially the focus will be on a small number of planned treatment areas with the longest waits, NHS England said, but will expand to other areas over time.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘For some patients with some conditions where it’s safe and appropriate, patients will be given the opportunity – instead of being sent around the houses to their GP, then to hospital, then for checks and scans, then back again – they’ll be seen faster and more conveniently from the comfort of their own home or their desk at work by someone who will be able to get a sense of their condition, give them a course of action, which might be going to a community diagnostic centre or they might be given a course of treatment, and it’s faster, convenient and easier for patients.’
He added: ‘Of course, there’ll be some people who always say, “Well, I want to see someone face to face.”
‘And the good news is about this, everyone wins.
‘For those who are seen online and want to be, it’s faster and more convenient, and for those who want to see someone face to face, well, the extra capacity we’re creating means that those people also get the better service.’
Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England
But Dr Becks Fisher, from the Nuffield Trust think tank, said: ‘There are some difficult questions looming about how this new service will be implemented: will doctors and nurses for this service be able to take on this work without it impacting on existing face-to-face work?
‘And how will they pass patients who need care from digital to physical services?
‘This service will only be safe and suitable for certain patients. How will we make sure it is kept to them?’
And Dr Jeanette Dickson, chairwoman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said of NHS Online: ‘This is a novel and potentially game-changing way of improving equity and speed of access to NHS services, which would reduce health inequalities.
‘Obviously, we need to make sure that those who aren’t digitally enabled are not penalised in any way, but if this approach can be delivered safely and effectively, freeing up capacity in bricks and mortar hospitals at the same time, then it could potentially be a really good thing.’
Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said the online hospital service could be a ‘very significant’ development.
Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, said: ‘This is a huge step forward for the NHS and will deliver millions more appointments by the end of the decade, offering a real alternative for patients and more control over their own care.
‘Patients who choose to receive their treatment through the online hospital will benefit from us industrialising the latest technology and innovations, while the increased capacity will help to cut demand and slash waiting times.
‘The NHS can, must and will move forward to match other sectors in offering digital services that make services as personalised, convenient, and flexible as possible for both staff and patients.’
