NHS backlog of two-year waits in England shrinks from 22,500 to below 200
The backlog of people in England having to wait more than two years for a routine operation has shrunk from 22,500 at the start of the year to fewer than 200, newly released NHS figures show. The data indicates that the number of patients waiting that length of time has shrunk to just 168, excluding more complex cases.
These people largely live in the south-west, which has been worst affected by Covid-induced pressures on the health services and high staff absences.
At the start of the year, more than 22,500 people had been waiting two years or longer for scans, checks and surgery. Some 51,000 people who would have been waiting two years for scans, checks and surgery by the end of July have also now been treated.
NHS England told the BBC that it had achieved the first milestone in its plan to eliminate backlogs caused by Covid, but a record 6.6 million people are still waiting for hospital treatment.
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The pandemic caused treatment wait times to soar as operations were cancelled to deal with those suffering from Covid.
In an attempt to reduce the backlog, patients have been offered travel and accommodation costs to be treated in alternative parts of the country.
Most of those still in the backlog have been waiting up to 18 weeks for routine operations, including knee and hip replacements, and eye surgery, with about 300,000 on a waiting list for more than a year. The government’s next agenda is to eliminate 18-month waits by April 2023.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: “It has only been possible because the NHS has continued to reform the way we deliver care, using innovative techniques and adopting pioneering technology like robot surgery, and through building new relationships and mutual aid arrangements across systems to offer patients the opportunity to be transferred elsewhere and get the care they need as quickly as possible. “The next phase will focus on patients waiting longer than 18 months, building on the fantastic work already done, and, while it is a significant challenge, our remarkable staff have shown that, when we are given the tools and resources we need, the NHS delivers for our patients.”
The NHS was urged last week to routinely publish non-hospital waiting lists after it emerged that more than one million people are waiting for care in the community.
The Health Service Journal reported that some 1.04 million people were waiting for community services in England, including nearly 300,000 children. This included more than 321,000 people waiting for musculoskeletal services, such as physiotherapy. Leading physiotherapists called for more transparency over the data and more to be done to fully restore services after the pandemic.