The NHS will take years to get back on top of the record-high waiting lists for routine operations after Covid, top experts have warned.
NHS Confederation boss Danny Mortimer said today that waiting lists are ‘still going to be significantly higher than we have seen for a very, very long time’.
And Professor Neil Mortensen, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said ‘a big plan’ will be needed to help tackle the ‘absolutely massive problem’.
NHS England figures show 4.52million people are now waiting for routine operations, including almost 225,000 who haven’t been treated in over a year. Experts have even warned the waiting list could double to 10million by April.
Patients delayed seeking care because they heeded Government calls to ‘stay home, protect the NHS’ or feared getting the virus at their GP surgery or hospital. Hospitals postponed tens of thousands of non-urgent operations to free-up staff and beds for Covid cases.
The NHS resumed services over the summer but had to halt some non-urgent care again over winter as it struggled to cope with another wave.
Mr Mortimer — whose body represents hospital trusts across the country — said that politicians and the NHS have to be honest with the public about the scale of the task, with lists longer than they have been in 20 years.
The warnings follow claims by researchers that the pandemic turned the NHS into the ‘National Covid Service’.
NHS Confederation chief executive Danny Mortimer (left) said waiting lists for routine operations are ‘still going to be significantly higher than we have seen for a very, very long time’ after the peak of Covid infections in January and February has passed. Professor Neil Mortensen (right), president of the Royal College of Surgeons said ‘a big plan’ will be needed to help tackle the ‘absolutely massive problem’
The number of patients waiting more than a year for surgery hit the highest levels since April 2008 in December, NHS England figures published today show
The number of patients on NHS waiting lists hit 4.52million in December, the highest number since records began in August 2007
TEN MILLION patients on NHS waiting lists? Number awaiting treatment is expected to surge to record high by April after delays from pandemic
NHS waiting lists could hit a record ten million by April – with one in six people in England needing treatment, a report warned last week.
Researchers claimed the pandemic turned the NHS into the ‘National Covid Service’, with six million fewer referrals in 2020 than 2019.
Now health workers are braced for a surge from pent-up demand when lockdown curbs are eased in the coming weeks.
It could see the waiting list rise from 4.52million as of the end of December to ten million by April, modelling by the Reform think tank and data analytics firm Edge Health suggested.
The number waiting on the list for more than a year is also expected to be 12,000 per cent higher by April than last March.
Health charities and the Royal College of Surgeons warned that patients face the ‘grim reality’ of long waits for ‘years to come’.
Patients delayed seeking care because they heeded Government calls to ‘stay home, protect the NHS’ or feared catching the virus at their GP surgery or hospital.
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Mr Mortimer told Times Radio: ‘We do need that investment in facilities, investment in people, and we also need to understand that there are competing pressures because of the virus, because of the impact we have seen on people’s mental health that we are going to have to deal with for the longer term.
‘There is also the continued reality of the vaccination programme as well – all of those things need investment from the Government.’
Surgeons face a lack of access to theatres and the staff who work there, including anaesthetists, are very tired, he said.
Professor Mortensen said: ‘I think surgeons are very prepared to be flexible. I think there needs to be more operating time. There needs to be more opening hours for surgery and surgery hubs.
‘We have already done well with remote outpatient appoints, with patients not having to come to hospital for assessment and follow-up, but staff are tired and need a pause, particularly for surgery we need the help of our friendly anaesthetists.
‘We can’t really do anything without having a really good theatre team.’
It comes after Reform think tank researchers found waiting lists could hit a record ten million by April – with one in six people in England needing treatment.
The waiting list could rise from 4.52million as of the end of December to ten million by April, modelling by the think tank and data analytics firm Edge Health suggest.
The number waiting on the list for more than a year is also expected to be 12,000 per cent higher by April than last March.
Almost 225,000 people went at least 52 weeks without treatment in December, according to NHS England.
For comparison, the figure was below 2,000 for almost every month in 2019, before Britain’s health service was slammed by the first wave of the pandemic.
Surgeons say tens of thousands of patients waiting to be seen will be in excruciating pain and unable to get on with ‘day-to-day family life or work’.
Leading medics also say the shocking data shows the ‘enormous toll’ of coronavirus on the health service.
NHS hospitals have been under intense pressure during the coronavirus pandemic, data shows, with double the number of Covid-19 patients in the second wave as in the first
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