Bookings should clear waiting lists by 2005

New figures show that the number of booked appointments across the NHS is rising ahead of target and will mean an end to waiting lists for hospital appointments and admissions by 2005, according to the director of the national booking programme.

There have been concerns that the improved efficiency promised when it was initially launched in 1998 was not being fulfilled - particularly following evaluation of the 24 first-wave pilots carried out by Department of Health strategy unit director Professor Chris Ham.

But programme national director Lynne Maher said results of the third-wave pilots have shown significant improvements. From September 2000 to March 2002, there were 2,950,000 planned bookings - nearly 40,000 above the programme target.

Ms Maher said she was confident that the service would hit the 2005 deadline - outlined in the NHS plan - for abolishing waiting lists for hospital appointments and admissions.

'There were problems in the beginning but it is about a learning process. I think we have made considerable progress... and that has allowed us to become more sophisticated in our approach.'

The millions being invested by the government into the booking programme are being used to allow managers and clinicians to have protected time for making the system work.

And though there is no comparable data, Ms Maher said indepth interviews showed that consultants, GPs and patients were more supportive of the project than they were three years ago.

'I think there is always going to be a small pocket of GPs and consultants who do not like the idea of booked admissions. But for the vast majority it has made life easier - created a quicker and more efficient process. There may also be patients who do not notice the difference, but they will mostly be people with no experience of what the previous system was like.'

The programme is now in its fourth wave - there will be five in total. It already covers every health community in England.