The NHS England Getting It Right First Time programme has opened a call for integrated care boards to apply for funding to support community waiting times.
ICBs can apply for a share of £450,000 in funding to support locally delivered interventions and initiatives that reduce waiting time for community services.
The offer hopes to improve flow across community services, develop and implement plans to eliminate waits that exceed 52 weeks, and increase the number of patients who wait less than 18 weeks.
NHS England noted that “participating systems will receive tailored GIRFT support, including senior clinical and operational leadership, analytical support, the development of a recovery plan, and implementation coaching.”
Examples of initiatives that could be funded, cover: intensive waiting list validation and clinical review, super-clinics or focused assessment events, pathway redesign and implementation, digital triage and referral optimisation, demand and capacity analysis, workforce optimisation, and project management and improvement resource.
Applications for funding can be made using the expression of interest form. 11 September 2026 is the deadline for applications.
Wider trend: Digitally-enabled care
HTN was joined by a panel of healthcare leaders for a discussion on digital in supporting pathway redesign, covering challenges, approaches, and examples of success. We considered what good looks like in this space, along with national guidance, what’s working and what isn’t, with an aim to share practical insight and learnings. Making up our panel, we welcomed Lee Rickles, CIO at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust; David East, Rego director at NEC Software Solutions; and Lydia Salice, divisional director for digital at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust has introduced digital histopathology reporting following an 18-month programme of investment, innovation, and workforce development. According to the trust, the move to a full digital pathology service supports improved reviews of cases and collaboration. Using the system, specialists can examine tissue samples using high-definition digital images, replacing traditional glass slides, UHNM explains. Glass slides are loaded into specialist scanners which use high-definition digital cameras attached to a microscope to capture hundreds of images that are then “digitally stitched” together to form a complete image of the tissue sample. These images can then be uploaded to the trust’s PACS system to be quality checked and released to pathologists.
The NHS England Getting It Right First Time programme has shared a report on improving care and support for children and young adults living with diabetes to highlight the use of digital, wearable tech, digital self-management tools, and digitally enabled pathways. A review drawing on national audit and activity datasets, along with local insight, identified “excellent practice in many places”, GIRFT programme lead and NHSE national director for clinical improvement, elective recovery, and UEC Tim Briggs revealed. “But it also shows that variation is driven less by clinical complexity than by system design: diffuse accountability, inconsistent standards, workforce and infrastructure pressures, and a persistent failure to turn good data into sustained action.”
