NHS can save billions if it cuts waste

The NHS must cut waste if it wants more cash, the senior surgeon who has the job of driving up standards has said.

According to Tim Briggs, who is conducting the most comprehensive clinical efficiency audit of the NHS so far, the NHS should not get more money because it wastes so much on poor care.

He said the health service must put its house in order before asking for extra taxpayers’ money, and that it could save billions a year if the most efficient practices were applied across the country.

His review found great variations in the cost and quality of common treatments, with low-performing hospitals ignorant about better methods adopted elsewhere.

Over 300,000 patients a year are needlessly admitted to emergency surgery beds when they do not need an operation, Briggs revealed.

He said that if all hospitals copied the best units by running tests quickly, many patients would be sent home immediately, freeing up a ward in each hospital and saving the NHS £108 million annually.

Briggs’ report found that some hospitals are paying 350 times more than others for basic surgical equipment for no clear reason, while there is no consensus about the best way to carry out some common procedures.

It also revealed the £400 million a year is spent each year in legal claims about mistakes in childbirth, yet some hospitals only pay out £75 per birth rising to £6,980 at the worst.

Briggs bean his ‘getting-it-right-first-time’ programme in orthopaedic surgery and it has been adopted by NHS Improvement, where he is now national director of clinical quality and efficiency.

His programme is backed by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who urged hospitals to act on the findings, and Simon Stevens, the head of NHS England.

Briggs told The Times: “I’ve now been to every single trust in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and there is significant waste out there.

“I do not think at the moment we deserve more money until we put our house in order and we actually make the changes that will improve the quality of care.”

He insisted that the NHS had to ensure every pound of taxpayers’ money was spent to the best effect, saying: “ Then, once we’ve got that, we can speak to the politicians as the population ages about whether the NHS needs more money. But at the moment there are significant changes we can make to improve our practice that will allow us to do a lot more work with the amount of money we have.”

Jeremy Hunt, Health Secretary, said: “By reducing variation we can improve care and eliminate waste at the same time. As this excellent work led by Professor Tim Briggs shows, some hospitals are already working smarter with their money to save time and get better outcomes.”