Huge numbers waiting 9 months for surgery
NEW data shows the scale of the operation backlog facing the Welsh NHS, with more than 100,000 people waiting more than nine months for surgery.
When the Covid-19 epidemic started the Welsh Government cancelled all non-urgent procedures.
Even before Covid, the system was already struggling to keep up with demand and there were long waiting lists at many health boards.
The latest figures show that the number of procedures with a waiting time of more than 36 weeks has increase by over 1,600% in some areas.
The figures came from Health Minister Vaughan Gething in response to a question by South Wales Central MS Neil Mcevoy.
They show the number
of procedures with a wait of over 36 weeks has increased significantly across every health board area in Wales. The increases were: 178% in Swansea Bay UHB.
1,634% in Hywel Dda UHB;
1,007% in Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (UHB);
156% in Betsi Cadwaladr UHB;
530% in Cardiff and Vale UHB;
332% in Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB.
Powys Teaching Health Board had no procedures with waits as long as nine months before March so there is no percentage to give. There are now 519 on the waiting list for 36 weeks.
According to the British Medical Association (BMA) “there is virtually no medical speciality that is untouched”, but how
bad the situation is depends on where you live.
“It is very patchy across health boards and hospitals,” said Richard Johnson, a consultant breast surgeon based in the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend.
“There is no consistency so there is a bit of a postcode lottery going on depending on where you are living and how well your health board is getting their plans going again.”
In a statement the BMA added: “Mental health services have struggled because of increased demand and deployment of staff during the first wave of Covid.
“Suicide rates increased.
“The service is woefully underfunded and understaffed.
“Access to interventions that demonstrably have
improve mental ill-health, such as cognitive behaviour therapy, is said to be non-existent in some areas.”
According to the Health Minister, between March and August 2020 there were 10,393 operations postponed due to Covid19.
Of these, 57% were postponed by the hospital due to non-clinical reasons, which includes beds being unavailable, clinical staff being unavailable, 36% were postponed by the hospital for clinical reasons, such as the patient having a pre-existing medical condition or being unfit with an acute illness, and the remaining 7% were postponed by the patient.
In response to Mr MCEvoy’s questions, Mr Gething said: “Consultants are now going through their waiting lists to risk-stratify and prioritise all patients,
so that when it is safe to restart services the most urgent patients are seen first.
“Management information shows that at the end of July 2020 there were nearly 480,000 patients waiting on the open referral to treatment pathway.
“This is an increase of 5% compared to the end of March. Of those waiting at the end of July, nearly 120,000 had been waiting over 36 weeks, an increase of 324% compared to March.”
Responding to the figures Mr Mcevoy said: “These figures truly are shocking. We’re talking about a population the size of Gwynedd now waiting 36 weeks for treatment.
“I am extremely concerned about the number of people who will lose their health, and possibly their life, not directly because of Covid-19 but because of postponed operations and extraordinary waiting times.
“I’ve spoken to so many people who simply cannot access healthcare anymore as this pandemic continues.
“The public underwent an extremely challenging lockdown at the beginning of the year in order to buy more time for the health minister to stop the NHS being overwhelmed.
“It’s now clear that the Welsh Government’s policies to stop the virus have failed.
“The simple truth is that most health boards are under serious strain, while treatment in others seems to have collapsed.
“With no signs of a vaccine or the virus ending any time soon, the Health Minister now urgently needs to outline a way forward so that operations and treatment are able to take place once again.”