A record 4.46m now waiting for NHS treatment
A TOTAL of 4.46 million people in England were awaiting NHS operations and treatment at the end of November – the highest number ever.
The huge backlog, made worse by hospitals being swamped with Covid cases, compares with 4.42 million in November 2019 and 4.45 million in October that year. The highest number before that was in August 2007.
Royal College of Surgeons of England president Prof Neil Mortensen said it showed the virus’s “calamitous impact on wait times”. And he warned of a “huge hidden waiting list” building up under lockdown.
“When we emerge from this crisis we will need sustained investment to treat all those who have been waiting patiently for treatment,” he added.
Official figures out yesterday showed the number of people waiting more than 52 weeks to start hospital treatment was 192,169. Twelve months earlier it was just 1,398. The number admitted for routine treatment was down 27% to 222,810 compared with 2019.
One in five major hospital trusts had no spare adult critical care beds on January 10 and 5,513 patients waited longer than an hour to be handed over from ambulance teams to A&E staff.
But 205,182 urgent cancer referrals were made by GPs, up from 201,498 in November 2019.
University Hospitals Birmingham – England’s largest NHS Trust – suspended all kidney transplants yesterday for 14 days.
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “These figures show the alarming and sustained pressure the NHS has been under.”
Meanwhile, an Oxford University study out today suggests bowel cancer diagnoses in England have fallen sharply since the first lockdown with 3,500 fewer than expected.