What’s Really Helping NHS Trusts Reduce Elective Waiting Lists?

20th January 2026

by John Clarke

As England records one of the largest reductions in elective waiting lists in 15 years, NHS leaders face the challenge of sustaining progress while managing tight finances, workforce pressures and rising demand.

For Trust boards and executive teams, the focus is no longer simply removing backlog but building repeatable, scalable ways to manage demand. That requires accurate data, streamlined workflows and platforms that connect patient engagement, operational teams and back-office processes.

North Cumbria: Scaling validation with the NHS FDP

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) has taken waiting list management a step further by integrating Netcall’s Waiting List Validation solution with the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP).

The FDP identifies patient cohorts using national data, securely passing them to Netcall’s locally hosted platform for automated outreach. Responses are returned to the FDP, keeping waiting lists up to date and freeing staff to focus on care rather than administration.

Since adopting the solution, NCIC has achieved:

1. 73% patient response rate
2. ~9% discharged from waiting lists
3. Faster time to treatment and more accurate prioritisation.

NCIC notes that FDP integration enables scaling patient cohort selection with minimal resource burden, aligning operational efficiency with national strategic priorities.

University Hospitals Sussex: Validation at scale

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UHSx) illustrates the impact of a platform-led approach. Using Netcall’s Liberty for Health platform, the Trust runs weekly validation cycles for roughly 4,000 patients, combining digital outreach (SMS, email, letters) with automated operational workflows.

Key results:

1. 86% digital response rate
2. 80.4% overall response rate
3. 13.2% of patients discharged from the waiting list
4. 12% of patients confirming they no longer need care
5. Capacity freed in booking and contact centre teams.

“Using digital validation has increased our response rate from 50% to over 80% within 72 hours. This allows us to keep our waiting lists accurate and offer earlier appointments to patients who still wish to be seen.”

Donna Steeles

Assistant Director of Performance and Improvement, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust

Beyond engagement: Platforms that transform operations

While digital validation delivers measurable gains, Trusts are increasingly recognising that back-office automation is just as critical as patient engagement. Contact centres, case management, referrals and workflow orchestration are all high-volume tasks where inefficiencies directly impact clinical performance.

Liberty for Health is designed as a system-wide transformation platform, supporting:

1. Omnichannel patient engagement and validation
2. Automated case management and workflow orchestration
3. Back-office process automation
4. Real-time visibility of demand, caseloads and performance
5. Interoperability with EPR, PAS, HR and specialty systems.

Trusts using this platform approach are expecting to achieve annual savings of £6.4m per Trust, with national potential exceeding £1bn.

A C-suite agenda for sustainable elective recovery

As elective waiting lists fall, executive teams need to focus on solutions that:

1. Improve data accuracy at source
2. Automate high-volume workflows
3. Support both patients and staff
4. Integrate with national and local systems.

Elective recovery is no longer just a clinical or operational challenge. It’s a platform and data strategy decision. Trusts that align patient engagement, workflow automation and national data platforms are the ones best positioned to sustain progress, improve staff productivity and unlock measurable savings.

If your goal is sustainable recovery, this is where the conversation needs to start – and it’s one every CEO, COO, CFO and CIO should be having today.

About the author

John Clarke

Head of Client Solutions – Health

John has a wealth of experience from the health sector, having worked in the industry for over two decades. He's passionate about helping drive change in the NHS and streamlining it for both NHS professionals and patients. John aims to make a positive difference to society when it comes to the delivery of healthcare across our communities.