Morning, Thursday, 25th September 2025
Online
This conference will examine next steps for elective recovery and waiting time reform in England, assessing ongoing developments in elective care policy and priorities for service delivery, funding mechanisms, and patient outcomes.
Policy, Elective Care Reform plan and funding
It will bring together key stakeholders and policymakers to discuss the Government’s aim of ensuring 92% of patients receive care within 18 weeks by March 2029. Delegates will assess what will be needed from policy and its implementation if this is to be achievable, along with implications for key stakeholders including ICBs, NHS trusts, the independent sector, and patients. We also expect a focus on how the 3% real terms growth in NHS day-to-day spending in the Government’s Spending Review 2025 can be allocated to support reaching this target.
The agenda includes a focus on practical issues for implementation of NHSE and DHSC’s Reforming Elective Care for Patients plan, looking at workforce planning, system-wide coordination and priorities for patients. Delegates will discuss how to address strategic challenges for sustaining the plan into the future and to adapt to future healthcare demands, including long-term funding, putting in place workforce capacity, and innovation in service delivery models. They will also consider what can be learned from previous elective recovery programmes.
Taking place amidst a wider period of reform for the NHS, it will also be an opportunity to look at how best to coordinate initiatives for addressing elective recovery, in the context of the 10-Year Health Plan and the expected National Cancer Plan and Life Sciences Sector Plan. We expect discussion to reflect questions about the potential impact of the Government’s plans to merge the functions of NHS England into the DHSC, and implications for accountability and driving national improvement in elective recovery.
Integrated Care Boards, skills and leadership
Delegates will consider the role of ICBs in decision-making and resource allocation. Areas for discussion include strategies for addressing workforce shortages, advancing skills development, securing funding and sustained investment.
Sessions in the agenda assess priorities and best practice for effective local leadership and its role in meeting elective recovery targets, including the impact of new performance-based pay structure for senior NHS leaders. Attendees will also consider how to address concerns over the impact of the proposed consolidation of ICBs and 50% reduction in ICB running costs on the delivery of elective care and waiting times for patients.
Independent sector involvement, implementation and patient engagement
Key aspects of the NHS and Independent Sector Partnership Agreement from January 2025 will be examined, including how its stated aims - to align digital systems around national interoperability standards, expand and sustain the elective workforce, and establish longer-term commissioning arrangements - might be taken forward. Delegates will also consider financial implications associated with the increased use of the independent sector, including long-term sustainability and value for money.
Further discussion will consider opportunities for improving awareness, communication and information for patients around patient choice and options including the independent sector, as well as the future for the independent sector’s involvement in local commissioning and planning for elective care.
Patient-centred care, regional disparities, and use of technology
With elective reform policy focussed around empowering patients, discussion is expected around implementing the expansion of the NHS App and Manage Your Referral, as well as expanding patient-initiated follow-up and the implementation of initiatives such as Proactive & Accessible Transformation of Healthcare (PATH) by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Delegates will also consider the development of minimum standards for elective care, due to be published by NHS England by September 2025.
Attendees will assess considerations for achieving equitable access and provision across patient groups, including strategies for addressing potential digital exclusion linked to increased technology use within the NHS.
Discussion will also explore approaches to tackling regional disparities in waiting times, including prioritising investment in areas with greater health inequalities to support capacity building. Opportunities to enhance existing improvement programmes will be reviewed, including local patient transport initiatives and other alternatives beyond those outlined in the plan.
Sessions will examine approaches to delivering patient-centred perioperative care throughout the care pathway, with a focus on improving pre-operative support and communication for those awaiting treatment.
Surgical hubs, community diagnostic centres and rolling out innovation
Further sessions will examine priorities for the expansion and creation of new surgical hubs and community diagnostic centres. Strategies such as the expanded use of robotic assistance will also be assessed and the impact on increasing capacity, with NHSE recently announcing aims for half a million operations to be supported by robotics every year by 2035. We expect discussion on collective care approaches due to be deployed by September 2025 and priorities for their implementation, including one-stop clinics, super clinics and group appointments.
Funding announced in the Spending Review 2025 for NHS technology and digital transformation by 2028‑29 will be discussed and strategies for improving efficiency through digital and AI innovation, including the development of single patient records and wider digital tools to enhance patient management and streamline service delivery. Delegates will discuss the investment, digital transformation and skills required to prepare the NHS to utilise AI to tackle waiting lists and deliver efficiencies in elective recovery.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates.
