Good Morning. Today the government was expected to announce its NHS “alternative recovery plan”, detailing a timetable to deal with the backlog of 6m operations and procedures built up during the pandemic. In a crowded field, it is almost at the top of the list of significant challenges to be faced by boris johnson,
But the publication of the plan has been stopped. like this my colleague Dennis Campbell explains it In our overnight story.
Department Health And Social Care (DHSC) was expected to publish an “alternative recovery plan” on Monday detailing measures to tackle the 6 million backlog. However, a second delay has been caused by renewed wrangling between NHS England and the government over how the targets imposed on hospitals should be sought.
Disagreements center on the time frame by which NHS trusts must treat everyone who has been waiting a year or two for care, usually an operation. “The conversation about goals has become longer and harder. The Treasury wants ambition of a certain scale, they want a tougher target than NHS England, which is possible,” said one NHS Source.
Another NHS source said: “The target will be to finish the 104-week-old waitress by the end of March. And no one will wait more than a year for treatment till March 2025, but the government is trying to bring it further till March 2024, and it is still under negotiation.
Sajid Javidothe health secretary, is giving an interview this morning and he effectively acknowledged that the ongoing negotiations were to blame For a last minute hold-up. But he said he would not describe it as a single line. He told the Today program:
There has been no argument. There has been a very active discussion, both within the NHS and my department, to collectively agree on an alternative recovery plan.
Javid also said that the main reason for the delay was the emergence of the Omicron version. And he dismissed claims that the treasury was going hard. He told BBC Breakfast:
The Treasury is an excellent partner. No department in the government works as a silo and it will always be more effective when we work together and I am very lucky, we have a very good relationship with the Treasury.
All I can tell you from my personal experience is that being Chancellor, working in partnership with you Treasury makes a huge difference and it’s easy to see when you look at billions of pounds of investments. NHS and social care.
I’ll be posting more from Javid’s interviews soon.
The hold-up comes as Boris Johnson continues his shake-up of the Downing Street operation and anxiously waits to see if he can get through on Thursday, when the Commons offers a mini, half-term begins the recess, triggering a vote of no confidence. It is possible that today more MPs go public to say that they have submitted a letter to the ballot. And there are claims that Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s former chief adviser, may publish new claims today with the intention of undermining the PM.
here are my colleagues Rowena MasonLatest story on Johnson’s condition.
Here is the agenda for the day.
11.30 am: The lobby briefing takes place in Downing Street.
2.30 pm: Therese Coffey, Secretary of Work and Pensions, asks questions in the Commons.
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