Budget must deliver more than efficiency ambitions for NHS patients, says Adam Binns, CEO of One Health Group

Yesterday’s Budget placed significant emphasis on efficiency, productivity and the potential of AI to improve public services. These are important ambitions, but for the millions of people waiting for NHS treatment, the fundamental question remains: where is the practical plan to increase treatment capacity and reduce waiting times?

For organisations such as One Health Group, which delivers NHS-funded elective healthcare free at the point of delivery, the absence of a clear commitment to additional elective activity is a missed opportunity.

AI and improved productivity have a role to play in modernising the NHS, streamlining processes and helping clinicians work more effectively. But technology alone will not deliver the additional operations and procedures needed to bring waiting lists down. The Government must also address how treatment is funded, commissioned and delivered.

The NHS has committed to reaching 70% of patients starting treatment within 18 weeks by March 2027. Achieving that ambition requires a significant and sustained increase in activity. Efficiency savings are valuable, but they must translate into tangible improvements for patients, rather than simply reducing costs or moving activity around the system.

There is significant capacity across the wider healthcare sector that can help the NHS meet this challenge. Independent providers are not a substitute for the NHS; they are part of the capacity available to it. Where NHS-funded treatment can be delivered safely, efficiently and in line with clinical need, that capacity should be used to give patients faster access to care.

What we need now is a clear commissioning framework, backed by ring-fenced funding for elective recovery and longer-term contracts. Providers need confidence that activity will be commissioned for long enough to justify investment in staff, equipment and facilities. Short-term funding arrangements will not create the sustainable capacity the NHS needs.

The payment system must also support this ambition. NHS tariffs need to reflect the real costs of delivering high-quality care, including the pressures of staffing, energy and estates. If providers are expected to expand services, the financial framework must make that investment viable.

The wider health and care system matters, too. Sustainable social care provision can help patients leave hospital safely and free up capacity, but longer-term reform must sit alongside immediate action to tackle elective waiting lists.

Ultimately, the success of this Budget for the NHS should be measured by outcomes, not efficiency announcements alone. Are more patients being treated? Are waiting times falling? Are people getting back to work and everyday life sooner?

The Government has an opportunity to turn its productivity ambitions into meaningful progress. That means combining technology and efficiency with additional treatment capacity, fair funding and commissioning certainty.