Clear milestones are needed to reassure people that action is being taken now to clear the backlog.
Work on the Health and Care Bill began in 2019, before the pandemic. It must reflect how conditions have changed.
The public have little time for phony arguments about whether the public or private sectors should deliver NHS services.
Without them it would be very difficult either for patients to hold the Health Service accountable or commissioners to identify problems and drive improvement.
The public are consistently reported as being entirely relaxed about who provides their care. What matters is that it is high quality and free at the point of use.
Research found that just a 30-minute drive by car to an alternative provider of NHS care, public or private, can shave 14 weeks off your waiting time, lowering it from 22 weeks to just eight.