U.K. 'planned care' model hospital opens to clear COVID backlog

An estimated 6.1 million people in England are on wait lists for non-emergency hospital care after being referred to a specialist by their GP. The hospital will focus on cutting wait times for routine care, with staff briefed to prioritize patients who’ve waited longest. The hospital will offer outpatient services such as gynaecology, urology and cardiology and patients will be offered endoscopy, physiotherapy, phlebotomy and radiology checks and treatments. It houses six ORs, 48 inpatient beds and 22 day-case cubicles and provides surgical, diagnostic and outpatient care. The initiative follows other community initiatives to tackle the backlog and get health checks to thousands of patients, including one stop diagnostic centres, same day hip replacements and mobile CT and MRI scanners.