The latest NHS performance statistics have shown that the waiting list for hospital treatment in England has reached a record high of seven million.
The numbers revealed that hospitals are carrying out 12 per cent fewer operations and treatments than before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, while outpatient clinics are down by four per cent on the level of minor procedures, tests and assessments they are carrying out, conducting just over a million per month on average.
The startling statistics are unlikely to be fixed anytime in the short-term future, with ministers warning that it could take until Spring 2024 for the backlog to begin dropping, the BBC reports.
Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at the King's Fund think tank, said that the issues “fundamentally” boiled down to a lack of adequate resourcing and that government had to go further with its spending plans and workforce strategy if it was to address the problem.
Anandaciva said: “NHS services are facing a range of really serious challenges which impact on patients and the quality and timeliness of care they receive – including crumbling buildings and outdated equipment, long waiting lists for care, high levels of Covid-19 and growing staff shortages.
“Today’s figures lay bare these pressures. In September, there were nearly 33,000 emergency patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted to hospital, which is the highest number since records began. Meanwhile, people are waiting nearly 50 minutes for an ambulance despite the target being 18 minutes, and over 13,500 people were stuck in hospital when they no longer need to be there, partly due to a lack of investment in social care.
“Data published today also show that tackling the backlog of maintenance issues with NHS facilities and equipment, some of which present a high risk to patients and staff, has risen to over £10 billion.”
The King’s Fund has also published an analysis of its own, which suggests that diagnostic waits – currently at over 1.5 million people – will remain high until staffing issues and problems around access to equipment are resolved.
“Successive governments’ refusal to confront the worsening health and care workforce crisis and their chronic underinvestment in NHS buildings and infrastructure has created this mix of problems,” Anandaciva added.
“This winter, typical seasonal pressures on NHS services will be amplified by Covid-19 and a cost-of-living crisis that could impact on people’s physical and mental health. The government must acknowledge stark reality of the situation. If the current workforce and spending plans are the most the government is willing to offer, then there is little chance the health and care secretary’s Plan for Patients will be delivered. And sadly, it will be the public and patients who will suffer for those broken promises.”
Jessica Morris, research fellow at the Nuffield Trust think tank, highlighted that patients waiting for ear, nose and throat treatment were facing some of the lengthiest waiting times.
Morris said: “(Ear, nose and throat patients) face the longest waits on average, with only just over half of people getting an appointment within 18 weeks. Meanwhile, over 58,000 people have been waiting over a year for trauma and orthopaedic services.
“The latest dire A&E figures come even as the number of people arriving is still lower than it once was before the Covid-19 pandemic. A&E waiting times are the worst since records began, with three in 10 people waiting longer than four hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged. Waits for cancer treatment and diagnostic tests are also continuing to deteriorate.
“We can create a more productive NHS in the long term by turning around the long under-investment in staff, buildings and equipment, but realistically we are still in the beginning of a very difficult time indeed.”
Photo by Natanael Melchor on Unsplash
