Patients are an \u201cinconvenience\u201d to the NHS<\/a>, which has \u201cbuilt mechanisms to keep them away\u201d, said the new boss of the health service<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sir Jim Mackey, who was made chief executive of the NHS on 1 April, spoke of the 8am daily phone scramble for a GP appointment as one example of the difficulties patients face in seeking help.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve made it really hard, and we\u2019ve probably all been on the end of it,\u201d he told The Telegraph<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got a relative in hospital, so you\u2019re ringing a number on a ward that no one ever answers. The ward clerk only works nine to five or they\u2019re busy doing other stuff; the GP practice scramble every morning.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like we\u2019ve built mechanisms to keep the public away because it\u2019s an inconvenience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n And he warned that failing to listen to public frustrations could mean the end of a national health service.<\/p>\n Failings in maternity services, he said, were cultural and \u201cthinking we know best when mothers know best, listening to them and families and building the service around them\u201d.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThe big worry is, if we don\u2019t grab that, and we don\u2019t deal with it with pace, we\u2019ll lose the population. If we lose the population, we\u2019ve lost the NHS. For me, it\u2019s straightforward. The two things are completely dependent on each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Sir Jim, who earlier this month said the NHS should \u201ctear up\u201d the way<\/a> it offers hospital outpatient appointments, said cutting back millions of routine follow-ups would be a priority, since the NHS spent more on hospital outpatients than on the whole of the GP system.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n In maternity services, the NHS needed to listen to families more, the chief executive said (Getty)<\/p>\n \u201cOutpatients is glaringly obvious. Of 130 million outpatients a year, about 85 million or so are follow-ups,\u201d he told the paper, adding that it felt wrong that the NHS diverted so many resources to follow-ups at the expense of patients waiting for diagnosis and treatment.<\/p>\n Moving care out of hospitals<\/a> into local neighbourhood centres was crucial, to tackle waste and make care more convenient, Sir Jim said.<\/p>\n![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/gettyimages-1215439543.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/b72309ac449ec33550333014f7985f63Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjkyMzYzMjU0-2.20879996.jpg\")
<\/p>\n