NHS waiting lists reach record high

THE number of people in England waiting to start hospital treatment has risen to a new record high.

A total of 4.95 million people were waiting to start NHS hospital treatment at the end of March – the highest number since records began in August 2007.

Data from NHS England also showed that the number of people having to wait more than a year to start hospital treatment stood at 436,127 in March.

This is the highest number for any calendar month since August 2007, when the figure was 578,682.

In March 2020, the number having to wait more than a year to start treatment was significantly lower at 3,097.

Tim Mitchell, vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “In recent months we’ve become accustomed to seeing the record broken each month for the number of people waiting for NHS hospital treatment, but we must not forget that behind these stomach-churning numbers are ordinary people who have been forced to put their lives on hold.

“Today’s figures show the impact that a year of Covid has had on NHS surgery. With the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital at the lowest it has been since September last year, the recovery of planned surgery is fortunately now well underway.

“Still, any prospect of chiselling down the waiting list, which is now approaching five million people, is premature, because new patients are presenting daily.

“The task ahead is vast and many of the staff that support surgeons to operate, anaesthetists and nurses, are running on fumes after an unimaginably difficult year helping out on Covid-19 wards.

“As we’ve seen the NHS do over the last year, we will pull together to serve patients. But we won’t be able to deal with the backlog overnight. It will take many years, more investment and some changes to how we deliver services.”

The NHS data also found that when it comes to key diagnostic tests for conditions including cancer, just over 300,000 patients in England had been waiting more than six weeks for a key test in March.

A total of 305,061 patients were waiting for one of 15 standard tests, including an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy.

The equivalent number waiting for more than six weeks in March 2020 was 85,446.

But there was positive news, with 232,084 urgent cancer referrals made by GPs in England in March, compared with 183,603 in March 2020 – a year-on-year rise of 26%.

The 232,084 figure is the highest since records began in October 2009.

Urgent referrals where breast cancer symptoms were present – although not initially suspected – were up from 12,449 in March 2020 to 15,670 in March 2021, a rise of 26%.