Routine surgery delays - some patients left waiting 1,000 days for treatment
At the worst affected trusts some patients have been stuck on waiting lists for almost four years. The party submitted Freedom of Information requests to every NHS hospital trust in England asking for the five longest current waits for non-emergency operations, known as elective surgery. The figures expose a stark postcode lottery, with patients in some areas being left on the waiting list for three years or more. The trusts with the longest delays were University Hospitals Plymouth (1,416 days), North Middlesex University Hospital (1,337 days), Nottingham University Hospitals (1,324 days), and Northampton General Hospital (1,254 days). 15 of the 59 NHS hospital trusts that responded had patients who were waiting 1,000 days or more for treatment. These included waits for neurosurgery, a knee replacement and spinal surgery. Homerton Health NHS trust had the shortest delays, with the longest a patient having to wait for non-emergency surgery standing at 396 days or just over a year. Of the 59 hospital trusts that provided data, 31 trusts had at least one patient who had been waiting for two years or more, while 28 had eradicated all waits of over two years. Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: “Far too many people around the country are being left to wait in pain for a routine operation. Often these surgeries could make all the difference in allowing someone to live comfortably or return to the workforce. “Any delay is unacceptable, but there is a stark postcode lottery with patients in some areas still languishing on waiting lists for three years or more. “People are fed up of Conservative ministers making excuses and shifting the blame for these scandalous delays. “The Health Secretary must take responsibility and tackle this backlog which has been made worse by years of neglect of the health service under this Conservative government. That must start with a clear plan to tackle workforce shortages and recruit the NHS staff we so desperately need.” ENDS Notes to Editor: First covered by The Telegraph and The Mirror Full data can be found here. Individual NHS Trust responses are available on request. Overall NHS waiting times data can be found here. 7.2 million patients were on waiting lists to start treatment at the end of October 2022. Of these, 410,983 were waiting more than a year, 50,124 patients were waiting more than 18 months, and 1,907 patients were waiting more than two years.
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