THOUSANDS of Brits will get faster NHS treatment thanks to a new hospital “matchmaking” service.
Medics can now use an online search engine to match patients to the local clinics with the shortest waits.
People facing long delays at their usual hospital can be offered slots at other NHS or private hospitals nearby to jump the queue.
It is part of a renewed push to tackle the 7.5million-person waiting list.
The backlog is growing as strikes drag on, with another junior doctors’ walkout this weekend.
Amanda Pritchard, chief of NHS England, said: “This shows the benefits of having a national health service.
“NHS staff can now work even more closely with other hospitals across the country to find capacity and match patients to available treatment and appointment slots.”
The network is already used for inpatients who need a bed on a ward.
But it will now be used to speed up cancer tests and treatment, scans and diagnostic tests, and outpatient appointments.
Patients who have been waiting for over a year will be first to benefit from the service.
The expansion follows a pledge from ministers to use more private hospital capacity to help NHS patients.
Department of Health officials last week ordered closer monitoring of empty appointment and treatment slots that could be used to help the health service.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: “We must use every available resource to ease pressure on the NHS.”
Rachel Power, chief of the Patients’ Association, said: “Hopefully making it easy for health professionals to see the choices of where people can be treated will increase the number of patients who take advantage of this.”