The report by the Royal College of Physicians in partnership with the Patients Association says outpatient care is ‘outdated, inefficient and in need of reform'.

Dr Theresa Barnes, RCP clinical lead for outpatients, said: ‘NHS outpatient care is fundamentally no longer fit for purpose. It is archaic, disjointed and ultimately ineffective for both patients and staff.'

Over 135m outpatient appointments in 2023–24 were often associated with delays, poor communication, and confusion caused by trying to navigate services, the report says.

Over half of RCP members (57%) said they did not have adequate resource to deliver outpatient activity remotely. More than two-thirds (66.8%) of physicians said their ability to deliver outpatient care was limited by the availability of rooms, while fewer than a third (31.2%) said they have the time and information needed to prioritise patients on follow up waitlists based on their risk.   

The report advocates a shift towards prevention and early intervention, timely care closer to home and flexible, multidisciplinary integrated care pathways working across the healthcare system. It describes eight transformational shifts in the way care should be delivered – including moving from a ‘one size fits all' approach to personalised care.

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson: ‘Our 10-Year Health Plan will fix the broken outpatient system - shifting more care to the community so patients can be seen in the right setting, and moving the NHS from analogue to digital to tackle poor communication and delays.

‘We have already made progress on our mission to cut waiting lists – delivering an extra 3m appointments and cutting the waiting list by 219,000 since July.'