NHS England discuss plans to scrap the four-hour A&E waiting time target – which could mean a 24-hour wait for some
The news comes as A&Es are dealing with just 86 per cent of patients on time and waiting lists are at a decade-high of 4.3million people
PATIENTS could face day-long waits in A&E after the head of the NHS England said the four-hour target may be scrapped.
Simon Stevens also hinted that the 18-week standard for routine ops, such as cataracts, could also be axed.
A&Es are dealing with just 86 per cent of patients on time and a decade-high of 4.3million are on waiting lists as demand rises with the ageing population.
Mr Stevens told the Health Service Journal that fixed targets may be outdated because of changes in treatments.
He said the rise of day case emergency care meant the “thresholds for clinically relevant things to happen” have altered.
It means the most urgent cases will be seen quicker in future, he said, while others “have to wait longer”.
Meanwhile, Mr Stevens told the Public Accounts Committee yesterday that a breakthrough dementia drug could see healthcare costs rocket.
He told MPs that such a development would see the “biggest single shift” in funding from social care to health as the elderly needed less support.
But he said it was unlikely as more than 99 per cent of trials on dementia treatments had failed in the last decade.