Hospitals delay 1.5m operations due to Covid-19
EVEN TRUMP’S WEARING ONE
HOSPITALS have postponed 1.5 million operations because of the pandemic, analysis shows.
Patients may be forced to wait up to two years for knee or hip surgery, while those with cancer or heart and respiratory conditions are also being forced to wait longer for treatment.
The number of people having to wait more than a year to start hospital treatment in England jumped to 26,029 in May, up from 1,032 in May 2019.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association, said the figures showed “the huge mountain we have to climb”.
He added: “In April, the Health Secretary said that the ‘NHS was open’ and he announced the ‘restoration of other NHS services – starting with the most urgent. But the BMA’s research and survey reveal a very different picture.”
A petition calling for urgent Government action to prevent the deaths of up to 35,000 cancer patients as a result of Covid-19 disruptions reached 100,000 signatures within hours of its launch.
The Change.org petition was opened by the family of 31-year-old mum Kelly Smith on Saturday’s BBC Breakfast TV, who died after cancer treatment was delayed because of the pandemic.