Credit: Sasin Tipchai/Pixabay

The NHS is to launch a new online system through which patients waiting for surgery can access personalised information related to their care – including likely waiting times.

The My Planned Care Platform will be made available later this month via the NHS.UK website. Its aim is to ensure that people waiting for an operation are “better supported in run up to surgery through personalised plans developed in partnership with clinicians”.

The system will provide patients and their carers with “tailored information”, including details of current expected waiting times for the organisation providing their care. 

The Department of Health and Social Care said that one in three last-minute cancellations of surgery can be attributed “to people not being clinically ready for treatment, such as having a long-term condition including diabetes or high blood pressure which has not been diagnosed or properly managed”.

The new digital platform will thus provide users with “advice on prevention services such as stop smoking or diet and exercise plans, to make sure they are fighting fit for surgery to reduce cancellations, prevent deterioration and help patients recover as quickly as possible”.

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The launch of the online information hub forms part of a wider effort to tackle the backlog of care delivery caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with £1.5bn of funding providing this financial year to support “elective recovery”.

A further £5.9bn will be spent across the three-year spending review period beginning in April – including £2.1bn “to modernise digital technology on the front line, improve cybersecurity and improve the NHS’s use of data and redesign care pathways”, according to the DHSC.

Health and social care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “At the height of the pandemic the NHS rightly focused on treating COVID-19 patients, but sadly it has meant waiting lists have risen – and the Covid backlog is going to keep rising. This platform, combined with our record funding to tackle the backlog and invest in innovative diagnosis and treatment will help us ensure access to life changing care and support for people no matter who they are or where they live.”