Why axeing 18-week surgery target won't create more capacity in A&E

Why axeing 18-week surgery target won't create more capacity in A&E Reducing elective surgery seriously hits trusts’ financial performance and is no substitute for extra emergency care

Press coverage of the recent Next steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View [pdf] concentrated heavily on the argument that a lower 18-week elective surgery target in 2017/18 will make it easier to recover performance against the four-hour accident and emergency target. But false linkages between the two targets are hiding the real risk for the NHS.

While the lower elective surgery target is a welcome, but painful, acceptance of reality, the linkage between the two targets is neither direct nor strong. And overemphasising that linkage underplays the serious risks the NHS faces next winter. Continue reading... The Guardian