‘Brutal impact’ of virus on NHS waiting lists revealed
THE “brutal impact” Covid-19 has had on NHS waiting lists in Huddersfield has been revealed.
Patients waiting for tests or non urgent surgeries are likely to have to wait months as health chiefs battle with soaring waiting lists.
The most recent figures show Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) had 5,147 people on the waiting list for elective treatments, such as hip and knee operations, at the end of April.
That was a 39% jump in a month, from 3,694 in March, and more than double the 2,271 waiting in April last year.
The NHS cancelled all nonurgent surgeries for three months from April 15, although individual trusts made decisions to stop some treatments in March.
The number of people waiting more than a year for treatment at CHFT has risen from just five in March to 28 in April.
The number of people waiting more than six weeks for key diagnostic tests, such as MRIs, CT scans and colonoscopies, was 17 times higher in April than in March.
That was an increase from 251 people to 4,317 in just a month.
The number of people waiting more than three months also rose from eight to 42.
Tests and procedures being carried out plummeted, down from 14,315 in April 2019 to 5,260 in April this year.
The number of people seeing a consultant after an urgent cancer referral from their GP also fell dramatically in April to 624, compared to 1,341 in April
2019. GPs had been asked in March to prioritise particularly urgent referrals and downgrade or avoid referrals where possible.
Doctors have expressed concerns people with serious conditions have been put off attending A&E due to Covid-19 fears.
The number of A&E attendances had dropped to 6,895 in April, before recovering slightly in May to a total of 9,445 - but they are still down compared to 13,009 visits in April last year.
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 percent 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% 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% 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: “These 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, with 2,500 fewer people starting vital treatment to save, extend or improve their lives and a staggering 130,000 fewer seeing a specialist for suspected cancer after an urgent GP referral, than we would expect under normal circumstances.
“Instead, many people with cancer are being left to wait for next steps in fear, worrying about the long-term implications for their health, their families and their future.”
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust was approached for comment.
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on cancer care, with 2,500 fewer people starting
vital treatment.