The ‘brutal impact’ Covid-19 has had on our NHS services

SOARING waiting lists and plummeting numbers of people receiving treatment show the “brutal impact” Covid-19 has had on the NHS.

Figures reveal that the number of people attending A&E in Coventry and Warwickshire in April this year was less than half what would normally be expected.

The number of people waiting more than a year for elective treatments, such as hip and knee operations, increased from seven to 78 while those waiting more than 18 weeks doubled from 8,095 in April 2019 to 19,237 in April 2020.

There were also huge rises in the number of people waiting for key diagnostic tests such as MRIS, CT scans and colonoscopies.

Meanwhile the number of people who saw a consultant following an urgent referral from their GP fell to 1,243 - just over a third of last year’s.

The figures are a cause of great concern according to experts - who say it shows how the pandemic has “wreaked havoc” on issues such as cancer care.

In May, UHCW said that elective surgery would begin again in the “next phase” of operations. It came after a Warwickshire MP spoke out over a “substantial backlog” caused by coronavirus.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, efforts were made to ensure there would be enough staff and resources to treat people who became seriously ill.

The NHS cancelled all non-urgent surgeries for three months from April 15, although individual trusts made decisions to stop some treatments in March.

And GPS had been asked in March to prioritise particularly urgent referrals and downgrade or avoid referrals where possible.

The number of people going to A&E has also fallen - and doctors fear people with serious conditions have been put off seeking help because of concerns about Covid-19.

This effect appears to be waning. Figures show that the number of people attending A&E in May 2020 across Coventry and Warwickshire was 19,043 - up from April’s 13,397 but still considerably below the 35,556 attendances in May 2019.

BMA council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: “These NHS performance figures lay bare the brutal impact of Covid-19 on our healthcare services and patient care.

“They show only the early weeks of the pandemic but nonetheless, they confirm the fears of doctors that significant numbers of patients will not have received the care needed and that their conditions could have worsened.

“The shocking drop in the number of GP referrals for cancer treatment - down 60 per cent from last year, and GP referrals to specialist care down three quarters from last year, is incredibly concerning.

“The staggering reduction in patients attending A&E is of great concern, meaning that patients with emergencies are not being treated at a time when overall excess mortality in the UK is amongst the highest in Europe.”

He said two-thirds of doctors who had responded to a BMA survey had little or no confidence that expected demand could be properly managed.

Across England, there were 1.13 million people who had been on NHS waiting lists for more than 18 weeks at the end of April - a jump by almost a third in a month.

There were also 468,622 people who have been waiting for more than six weeks for key diagnostic tests - 55.7 per cent of the waiting list - up from 85,446 in March.

Those waiting to see a consultant after an urgent cancer referral also face longer waits - 88 per cent waited less than two weeks in April, the lowest proportion since records began in October 2009.

However, this was on top of a huge drop in referrals - down from 181,873 in March to 79,573 in April.

Lynda Thomas, Chief Executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Today’s cancer waiting time results are a sobering demonstration of the serious impact coronavirus has had on cancer services across England.

“The pandemic has wreaked havoc on cancer care.”