NHS England has published a planning guidance which reveals a significant reduction in national targets and streamlining of priorities to enhance patient care.

The guidance, released for the upcoming financial year, will indicate a reduction in priorities and success measures to 18 in 2025/26 from 32 in 2024/25, emphasising a concentrated effort on the critical aspects for patients and aiming to minimise waiting times.

The NHS is now set to deliver faster treatment for patients, focusing on planned surgeries and emergency care.

A new national ambition aims for 65% of patients to receive elective treatment within a duration of 18 weeks by March 2026.

Trusts are expected to improve their performance by at least 5% this year, with the goal of treating nearly 450,000 more patients within the 18-week window next year.

Efforts to diagnose and treat cancer are also being intensified.

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Mental health care access is another key priority, with all local systems required to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard in 2025/26.

Local systems will be granted greater spending flexibility to address patient needs.

However, they will also face difficult decisions, potentially reducing or stopping lower-value activities.

The acute sector has already shown over a 2% improvement in productivity in the initial seven months of this year, and systems are asked to further enhance productivity by 4% and reduce costs by at least 1%.

NHS England’s operations will mirror these streamlined priorities, with programme resources being reprioritised to achieve savings of £325m ($337.29m).

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “If everything is a priority, then nothing is. I want to empower NHS leaders to deliver the innovation and reform required to fix the NHS, rather than overload them with targets which have failed to deliver better outcomes for patients.”

In line with the shift from analogue to digital healthcare, local areas and providers are encouraged to fully utilise digital tools.

This includes ensuring that at least 70% of elective appointments are available through the NHS App, offering patients a choice and control over their care.