New research by the Health Foundation has suggested that NHS surgical hubs increase treatment volumes and reduce the length of time patients spend in hospital.

Surgical hubs are dedicated units within NHS trusts that aim to improve productivity, reduce cancelled operations and enable people to be discharged from hospital more quickly by ring-fencing staff and resources for planned surgery.

There are currently 108 surgical hubs operating across the country, with a further 26 due to open by the end of 2025.

Charles Tallack, director of data analytics at the Health Foundation said: "With the waiting list in England standing at 7.6 million, one in nine people are waiting for care they need – often with worry, pain or discomfort. It is therefore vital that we understand and implement the most effective ways of reducing the backlog of care. The NHS has sought to decrease waiting times by setting up surgical hubs to increase access to operations.

"Our research provides the first robust causal evidence that elective surgical hubs can significantly increase the number of patients treated and reduce the length of time they spend in hospital. With the new government having staked its credibility on tackling the NHS waiting list, our research suggests that surgical hubs could play an important role in helping to deliver on this."

The Health Foundation's research found that in their first year, the 31 trusts in England with newly opened hubs undertook almost 22 per cent more high volume low complexity elective surgery (such as hip replacements and cataract removals) than they would have done without a hub. This amounts to around 29,000 more procedures than expected at these trusts during this time.    

In the year following the last COVID lockdown, the 23 trusts which had established a hub pre-pandemic undertook 11 per cent more elective surgery (of all kinds) than they would have done without a hub. This amounts to around 51,000 more procedures than expected at these trusts between April 2021 and March 2022.