Hospitals have longest waits for ‘common’ ops in the country

LEICESTER’S two biggest hospitals have the longest wait times in the country for common operations, according to a recent report.

A study by law firm Bond Turner found that, on average, patients at Leicester General Hospital had to wait the longest for common procedures following a GP referral and average of 75.9 weeks or 17.5 months.

Leicester Royal Infirmary had the second longest wait time at up to 75.4 weeks on average.

Glenfield Hospital did not feature on the list.

The data was sourced from the NHS website between Wednesday, September 22, and Tuesday, September 28.

The study looked at the wait times for nine common procedures across the 52 biggest hospitals in the UK.

The country’s average wait time across the nine procedures was 52.6 weeks.

A spokesman for Leicester’s

Hospitals said: “Unfortunately the pandemic has impacted wait times for some appointments and procedures and we are sorry to those patients who, as a result, are having to wait longer for their care.

“Throughout the pandemic we have prioritised our most clinically urgent patients to ensure that they get the time-critical care they need, whilst also ensuring we regularly review the records of our other patients to ensure that they are seen at the right time for their medical needs.

“We know patients who are waiting may be anxious, and our teams are working around the clock to ensure that we are booking patients as soon as we can.

“Where people do experience a change in symptoms, we’d encourage them to contact their named consultant or GP to ensure we have the most up to date information about their needs.”

Across all NHS services in the country, the number of people on waiting lists is at its highest since 2007, with some 5.6 million people waiting for procedures as of last month.

Sara Stanger, of Bond Turner, said: “It goes without saying that the NHS has been put under overwhelming pressure over the last 18 months in particular. The Covid19 pandemic meant that many non-urgent surgeries were cancelled, and now the waiting list is ever-growing.

“NHS staff are working flat out to reduce the backlog, but it is no surprise that many are now feeling forced to look at alternatives such as private healthcare in order to have their procedure completed sooner.

“If you are currently awaiting non-urgent surgery following a GP referral, then you do have a legal right to choose which hospital it takes place at.

“There does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel for those waiting for procedures, as hospitals in England have been given permission to drop Covid testing before planned surgeries and can go back to normal cleaning routines, this should hopefully reduce the backlog. The extra money promised by the government will likely help too.”