Virus effort results in record test delays

Patients faced record delays for medical tests at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust in May, as hospitals across the country saw waiting times rocket due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Experts fear growing waiting lists could spell trouble in the coming months as lockdown eases and referrals rise, and stark challenges facing health services.

NHS trusts report on waiting times for 15 key tests at the end of each month – with a target of completing them within six weeks after being referred.

NHS England data shows 2,645 patients at South TynesideandSunderlandNHS Foundation Trust had been waiting longer than that at the end of May – 58.1% of those on the waiting list – the worst figure for the trust or its predecessors since local records began in 2014.

The figure for May last year was just 25 patients (0.4%).

The most common type of test to see delays at South Tyneside and Sunderland Trust was echocardiography, whichisusedtospotheartfailure – where 1,280 people had beenwaitingatleastsixweeks.

Thiswasfollowedby264patients waiting for cystoscopy, anexaminationwhichcanhelp to spot bladder tumours and another 165 people were held up for peripheral neurophysiology, which tests the function of the nerves and muscles.

Across England, over 570,000 patients (58.2%) had been waiting over six weeks for tests at the end of May.

Dr Rebecca Fisher, from charity the Health Foundation, said the hold-ups “could be storing up trouble” for the health service.

An NHS spokesman said staff provided more than five million urgent tests, checks and treatment in a safe way during the peak of the virus.