NHS waiting list passes the 4m mark

THE number of patients on NHS waiting lists is at its highest level in almost a decade.

Just over four million adults and children are currently awaiting surgery, tests or hospital outpatient appointments. This is the highest since September 2007 and is further evidence of the unprecedented demand on the Health Service.

Almost 400,000 patients have been on the waiting list for at least 1 weeks and 1,745 for a year or more. NHS data shows one in every 13 adults and children is currently awaiting a hospital procedure.

Leading surgeons said the delays were a ‘wakeup call’, while politicians warned that thousands were suffering in pain and discomfort.

Patients needing hip and knee replacements or other ‘trauma and orthopaedic’ procedures are facing some of the longest waits.

Professor Derek Alderson, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: ‘These statistics should act as wake-up call. This is the real-life impact of an NHS under severe pressure. As our population increases and demand for the NHS grows, the waiting list will likely only get worse unless more action is taken.’

Demand for health care is higher than ever before because the population is growing and aging, with many more patients becoming ill.

The NHS is also having to foot the bill for many more expensive new drugs at a time when its budget is very tightly constrained.

Figures also revealed it has been more than two years since the Health Service met the four-hour A&E waiting target. And the number of patients waiting two months for cancer treatment has almost doubled in five years to 26,710 – the highest since records began in 2010.

Worryingly, delays increase the chance of the cancer spreading to other organs.

An NHS England spokesman said: ‘We’re working hard to cut long waits.’