Huddersfield Royal Infirmary: The Yorkshire hospital leading the way in slashing waiting lists

Since November 2021, Huddersfield Royal Infirmary (HRI) has reduced its elective care waiting list of patients waiting 52 weeks from a high of 4,000 patients to just 20.

Rob Aitchison, deputy chief executive for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It is a testament to the hard work of our staff across Calderdale and Huddersfield that we are consistently named as one of the top-performing Trusts for elective waiting times in the country.

“We’ve managed to bring our waiting lists down dramatically through innovation, collaboration, and the sheer determination of our colleagues across our hospitals, from medical secretaries and schedulers to theatre staff.

“Just some of the initiatives we have put in place include introducing new surgical techniques and using data and digital tools to closely track people’s journey through our services and enhance patient care. We have streamlined our processes, which includes working in partnership with other healthcare providers to make sure we have a more joined-up approach.

“The work we have done also extends to being nationally recognised for reducing waits for people with a learning disability, and cancer care.”

Labour’s MP for Huddersfield, Harpreet Uppal, brought the success to the attention of Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, at Prime Minister’s Questions last week, praising the efforts of NHS staff and innovation in local healthcare. She invited him to pay a visit to HRI and the National Health Innovation Campus to see this in action.

The PM replied saying: “The achievement of the hardworking staff at HRI proves that you can bring down waiting times in line with our plan for change… it is important that we are applying this best practice and innovation across the NHS. We must do more. We inherited record waiting lists and we are now bringing them down.”

Ms Uppal also emphasised the use of AI by HRI to speed up scans and its work with Huddersfield University’s National Health Innovation Campus. This will see the development of a new NHS Community Diagnostic Centre at the innovation campus, with local students already being trained as paramedics, nurses and chiropodists.

The Department of Health is looking at how the rest of the NHS can learn from the successful work taking place in Huddersfield.

Speaking after PMQs, the MP said: “Our NHS staff in Huddersfield have achieved something extraordinary, and it’s vital we celebrate their success. Alongside their incredible work, the National Health Innovation Campus in Huddersfield is a beacon of what’s possible when we invest in collaboration and innovation.

“From the groundbreaking use of technology to training the next generation of NHS professionals, Huddersfield is delivering incredible results. I am delighted that the Prime Minister joined me in recognising this work and ensuring the lessons learned from Huddersfield benefit patients across the country.”