More wait over a year for routine NHS treatment

CANCER CHARITY’S CONCERN AS FEWER SEEK ASSISTANCE

HUNDREDS more patients are waiting more than a year for routine treatment at hospitals in Burton and Derby as the NHS deals with the Covid pandemic, figures show.

It comes as a leading cancer charity expressed concern that the number of people accessing help for the disease is still down on pre-pandemic levels.

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust said due to Covid it had had to prioritise urgent care for patients at Burton’s Queen’s Hospital and Royal Derby Hospital. But it added that staff were working hard to restore its services.

At the end of August, 1,667 people had been waiting over a year for routine treatment at the Derby and Burton trust, up from 1,011 the month before, and none in August 2019.

The target is for 92 per cent of patients on the list to start their treatment within 18 weeks of a referral. At the trust, the number waiting longer than that fell from 34,785 in July to 31,837 in August.

This meant the percentage waiting less than 18 weeks in August was 41.9 per cent compared to 36.6 per cent in July. However, the average wait went up from 22.2 weeks to 24.6 weeks.

Across England as a whole, 111,026 people had been waiting over a year for treatment at the end of August, up from 83,203 the month before, and 1,613 in February.

At the Derby and Burton trust, the number of people being urgently referred by their GP with cancer symptoms went from 2,413 in July to 2,447 in August. However, it is down compared to 2,686 referrals in August last year.

Among people who had been urgently referred, 153 started treatment in August, down from 180 in July, while for those who had not been urgently referred, the number was down from 337 to 285. Those figures also represent a drop compared to August 2019, from 195 and 353 respectively.

Across England, the number of people being urgently referred by their GP with cancer symptoms dropped by nearly 10,000 in a month - from 179,503 in July to 169,660 in August.

It is also down compared to 200,317 referrals in August last year.

Sara Bainbridge, head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Disruption to cancer diagnosis and treatment is having a traumatic impact on cancer patients’ lives.

“Today’s data shows that, six months from the start of the pandemic, there were still thousands fewer people being tested or treated for cancer than the same time last year, meaning that the backlog of patients continues to grow. The implications of this are extremely worrying. It is critical the Government urgently puts plans and resources in place to increase capacity and protect the NHS from further disruption, as we stare down the barrel of a second wave.”

The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling for a comprehensive plan, backed by appropriate funding, not just across secondary, but for primary and community care to reverse the current trends in care.

Sharon Martin, chief operating officer at the Derby and Burton trust, said: “Covid-19 has affected our services in a number of different ways and has required us to prioritise those patients who need urgent care, such as those undergoing treatment for cancer.

“We are currently receiving less cancer referrals from GPS than normal but do expect that numbers will soon begin to increase to at least the levels displayed before the pandemic.

“As seen at other NHS trusts, we have unfortunately seen an increase in the number of patients experiencing long waits for non-urgent procedures, as Covid-19 has required us to reduce numbers of elective cases.

“Our staff are working really hard to restore our services and we are doing everything that we can to ensure these patients receive the treatment they need as quickly as possible.”

It is critical the Government urgently puts plans in place to increase capacity and protect the NHS. Sara Bainbridge