Viewpoint: Reducing the burden

Recent news that more than one in six NHS trusts across England have declared critical incidents has signalled that priority services are coming under further pressure, once again placing the spotlight on NHS waiting lists and the strain of backlogs on key services.

Those waiting lists are now longer than ever before, while at the same time people show a reluctance to add to the workload of over-worked staff in hospitals and clinics with health issues perceived – sometimes wrongly – to be minor. There’s clearly a need to find ways to release pressure from the system and improve the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of people.