This is a new four-part series of podcasts from NHS Providers, highlighting how trusts are responding with commitment and ingenuity to the challenges of tackling care and treatment backlogs.
Over four weeks (19 May-9 June) the Providers Deliver: tackling the care backlog podcast series has showcased how hospital, mental health, community and ambulance trusts, in very different areas of the country, are working in new ways to ease backlogs and, through early intervention, tackle the rising demands for treatment. We hear contributions from 30 experts, including trust leaders, clinicians and partner organisations about how these new approaches are making a real difference for patients, families and service users.
We started with episode one: How is the NHS tackling the care backlog? which sets the scene, followed by episode two: Tackling mental health backlogs, episode three: Tackling hospital backlogs and finally episode 4: Tackling community and ambulance services backlogs is available on 9 June 2022.
The interim chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, said: "This series has shown how trusts and frontline staff are harnessing skills, ingenuity and commitment to make a difference for patients in their work to tackle backlogs. Trust leaders understand only too well the disruption and distress these delays can cause.
We know that despite the huge challenges the NHS faces in dealing with backlogs, alongside so many other pressures, brilliant work is being done, delivering real progress.
It is important to promote and celebrate these successes, not just in terms of elective backlogs which understandably receive a lot of attention, but also in mental health, community and ambulance services.
In doing this we have also emphasised the importance of addressing health and race inequalities which have been so harshly exposed during the course of the pandemic.
This podcast format has given voice to the trust leaders and frontline staff behind these great initiatives.
As the NHS comes under growing critical scrutiny, we will continue to highlight the great work being carried out by trusts, often in collaboration with partners in systems, to ease backlogs and to help people stay well."