Western Morning News (Saturday)
MPs clash over lengthy waiting list at hospital
THE waiting list for operations is set to grow longer at Cornwall’s main hospital, with thousands of people likely to wait months for surgery, it has been claimed.
In an attack on the Conservative Government, Wes Streeting, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, revealed that at the end of December 2021 there were 35,981 people on the waiting list at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust.
According to Labour, 1,319 people had been waiting for more than a year for an appointment and 37 had been waiting for more than two years.
However, the Conservative MP for Truro and Falmouth has hit back, saying the pandemic had caused a backlog as operations were postponed during the crisis.
Mr Streeting, MP for Ilford North, said that at the outbreak of the Covid pandemic there were a record 4.4 million people on the NHS waiting list in England. Nationally, the standard of 92% of people seen within 18 weeks of a referral has not been met since 2016. Now, one in every nine people in England is on the NHS waiting list.
He claimed that the NHS went into the latest wave of Covid infections with the longest waiting list ever, understaffed and overstretched.
Mr Streeting added: “People in Cornwall are being forced to wait months and even years for treatment, often in pain and discomfort. Now the Government is telling them that, despite hiking up their national insurance, they will continue waiting longer for years to come. It is clear that the longer we give the Tories, the longer patients will wait.
“Our local health care staff at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust worked heroically throughout the pandemic, but they have been stretched like never before.
“The Government must give us the staff and support Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust needs to get patients the quality care they deserve, when they need it.”
Truro and Falmouth MP Cherilyn Mackrory said the figures from Labour had to be put into context as they include not just full-time residents of Cornwall, but also university students, second homeowners and others who are being treated at the Royal Cornwall Hospital but live out of county.
She added: “It is not surprising to see waiting lists under particular stress at the moment. During the pandemic, many routine and non-routine operations and procedures were cancelled or postponed as the focus rightly remained on fighting the virus.
“Because of this, understandably there was always going to be a backlog and the Government is doing everything it can to support our hospital to get through these as quickly as possible.”
She added: “As we come out of the pandemic, waiting lists will increase because we are urging circa ten million people who haven’t come forward for treatment due to the pandemic to do so now.”
The Cornwall MP said the Government has given RCHT a £3m cash boost from the Targeted Investment Fund for use this financial year to help reduce the waiting list on the back of writing off the Trust’s historic £40m debt.
Mrs Mackrory added: “The new Wheal Veor ward at Treliske has just opened providing another 28 beds to relieve pressure in the hospital where the ward will look after patients who are medically optimised to leave the hospital but who are unable to because they are awaiting packages of care or care home assessment
“We are also seeing £450 million investment from the Government for NHS services in Cornwall, as well as a new women and children’s hospital.
“Labour cannot complain about NHS funding, having voted against the Government’s Health and Care Levy, which will provide the money needed to help our NHS and social care system recover from the pandemic.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Some 10 million people didn’t come forward for treatment during the pandemic, so this week we set out our plan to tackle the Covid backlog and deliver long term reform, backed by our multi billion pound investment over the next three years. By 2024, 99% of patients will be waiting for less than a year.”