NHS timebomb of 6m on ‘hidden’ waiting list

THE NHS must tackle a ‘hidden’ waiting list of six million patients who have not come forward for treatment in the pandemic, health leaders warn.

The official treatment backlog for routine procedures such as hip and knee operations soared to a record 4.52million last year.

But analysis by the NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals, warned there may be up to six million patients on top of this who could flood the NHS this year.

This is because GP referrals for treatment plummeted by 30 per cent last year. Experts say hundreds of thousands of patients failed to get symptoms checked due to the Government’s stay-at-home message and concerns of burdening the NHS.

The NHS Confederation found that 5.9million fewer GP referrals for elective treatment were made in 2020 compared to 2019. Health chiefs said it could take years to get waiting lists down to pre-pandemic levels.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘The NHS has worked tirelessly in response to the pandemic and while it has never been a Covid-only service, the disruption has been enormous.

‘Despite everything the NHS is doing, without a comprehensive new plan the Government faces the politically unacceptable legacy of hundreds of thousands of patients left with deteriorating conditions.’ There is mounting concern about the toll of the pandemic on non-Covid care.

The total of 4.52million people waiting to start treatment at the end of December – the highest number since records began in August 2007 – includes 224,205 waiting more than 12 months for life-changing surgery such as hip and knee replacements.

Tens of thousands of cancer patients are among those on waiting lists.

Cancer specialists said the backlog was ‘becoming unmanageable’ and warned the NHS faced ‘a legal storm’ of claims for compensation.