The NHS is growing an online matching platform to help thousands of patients get treatment sooner by skipping the queue at their local hospital.
Medics can upload details of those stuck on waiting lists so other providers – both NHS and independent – can offer their services.
Launched in January, the platform was initially used for patients requiring hospital admission and has led to more than 1,700 offers of support.
It will now expand to include cancer, diagnostic checks and outpatient appointments.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the “smart new tool” would help make further inroads into backlogs.
She said: “It shows, once again, the benefits of having a national health service – NHS staff can now work even more closely with other hospitals across the country to identify capacity and conveniently match patients to available treatment and appointment slots.
“Technology is already transforming the way we work in the NHS and we will continue to embrace the latest innovations, like this one, to deliver the best possible care for patients.”
The expansion comes as the NHS continues to battle a rising backlog, with a record 7.47 million people waiting for planned treatment at the end of May.
It will find matches for patients who have said they are willing to travel in order to be seen quicker. If more than one provider offers to pick up their case, the patient will be able to choose where they are treated.
The system will mainly be used to find solutions for those who have been waiting the longest, as the NHS works towards a target of ensuring no one waits longer than 65 weeks by next April.
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: “We welcome the expansion of the hospital matching platform and think it will make it even easier for patients and the healthcare professional to make a decision together about where to have treatment or a test.
“Patient choice has been a right for over a decade but not all patients are aware they have the right, and it isn’t always offered to them.
“Hopefully, making it easy for health professionals to easily see the choices of where patients can be treated will increase the number of patients who can take advantage of mutual aid within the NHS.”
The Government has announced plans to increase partnerships with the private sector in order to clear backlogs. More than 150 independent providers are signed up to the matchmaking platform.
Use of the independent sector to support elective care has increased by more than a third since 2021 – from 65,000 appointments and procedures a week to more than 90,000.
