COVID sparks longer hospital waiting times in Sunderland

The coronavirus pandemic has left more than than two in five patients waiting longer than the NHS target times for treatment in Sunderland.

New NHS data shows 41% of patients on the waiting list for elective procedures at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust at the end of July had waited longer than the national 18-week target for treatment to start – eight per cent more than the same month last year – with 9,832 patients waiting longer.

The Trust admits the pandemic has had a “significant” effect but says it staff have “worked tirelessly” to restore as many routine services as possible and achieved 59% of allpatients receivingtreatment within 18 weeks.

NHS trusts are normally expected to make sure no more than eight per cent of patients wait no more than 18 weeks for non-urgent elective operations – such as hip and knee replacements – but these were suspended during the height of lockdown to free up beds for coronavirus patients.

Nationally, 2.2million people (47%) were still waiting for treatment after 18 weeks in July – the highest number for a single month since records began in 2007.

Some 83,000 patients had waited for over a year.

Dr Shaz Wahid. Medical Director at Sunderland and South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The impact of coronavirus on the delivery

Coronavirus has hit the number of routine operations being done.

of our routine planned services has been significant and like all Trusts across the coun

try we took steps at the start of the pandemic, in line with the national response, to postpone all non-urgent planned operations to make sure we had capacity to manage the influx of emergency admissions to our hospitals of people with COVID-19.

“I n re c e nt m o nth s ou r teams have worked tirelessly to restore as many routine services as possible, recognising the impact for those patients who have had their treatment delayed. In July, we managed to achieve 59% of all patients receiving their planned treatm e nt w i th i n th e n at io n a l standard and we continue to work hard to recall people for their planned operations and procedures.

"As we do this, we must also remain in a state of readiness to respond to COVID-19 for the foreseeable future and especially given the recent rise in cases of coronavirus within our local community and as we prepare for the busy winter months ahead.”