More NHS patients to be treated privately as Starmer bids to slash waiting list backlog

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer delivers a speech during a visit to the Elective Orthopaedic Centre in Epsom, Surrey (Leon Neal/PA) - (PA Wire)

More patients will be sent for treatment in private hospitals under government plans to slash the NHS waiting list, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The prime minister used a speech to pledge “better use” of capacity in the private sector, with the NHS told it must actively tell patients when they can be treated at private hospitals.