A new plan to tackle long waiting lists for non-urgent surgery is being compared to opening a pandora's box.
The Government announced yesterday that public hospital waiting lists will be managed nationally in the face of soaring unmet demand.
It said that in March, nearly 36,000 people had been waiting longer than four months for their first appointment with a specialist.
Those waiting more than four months for treatment had also more than trebled, from 8000 in February 2020 to nearly 27,000 in March this year.
The plan could see people move around the country to hospitals where their operation can be done sooner.
Prominent surgeon, Geoffrey Horne, says that means funding is going to have to go with them and somebody is going to have to ensure that happens.
He says it's ironic that the term waiting list is back in use, having been banned about a decade ago by health bureaucrats who would never admit there was such a thing as unmet need
