Lansley bans minimum NHS waiting times

The move was announced by Andrew Lansley MP, the Health Secretary, in response to a Co-operation and Competition Panel report earlier in the year. It found that Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) were often installing minimum waiting times for patients after being referred for certain operations in an attempt to save money and ration treatment. The measures had become necessary as NHS budgets are increasingly stretched and PCTs face making £20bn of efficiency savings. However, managers will now need to find other ways in which to make some of the savings required. Lansley announced that...