Dozens of patients still waiting over THREE years for NHS treatment
The waiting list for NHS hospital care is nine times larger than in 2021
Last updated 29th May 2022
New figures have shown there are a number of patients in England who have been waiting for vital NHS treatment for over three years.
Numbers obtained by the PA News Agency found that nearly 100 people have been on waiting lists for over three years for NHS pre-planned hospital care, with a handful of other patients waiting nearly four years to be seen.
Many of the patients on the waiting lists are likely to be in pain or discomfort as they wait to hear from a specialist for the specifics of their referral.
Over a quarter of those waiting are for trauma centres and orthopaedic care, which looks after hips, knees and elbows.
One patient, whose details have been kept anonymous, had been waiting for nearly six years to be seen by an ear, nose and throat doctor at West Suffolk Hospital, in the constituency of former Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
However, in a statement, West Suffolk Hospital said that a data entry error had meant the patient's case was still open, when they had received a discharge letter in February this year.
NHS staff are continuing to struggle with stretched resources, saying they are doing "all they can" to help clear the backlog, but leading surgeons have branded the figures as "shocking" and warned that prolonged waiting times can cause serious "emotional and physical distress".
Figures provided by NHS England found that at the end of January, there were 23,778 people in England waiting over two years to start routine hospital treatment.
This number is almost nine times higher than the figure in April 2021, when only 2,608 patients had been waiting over two years to be seen.
Currently, there are over 6 million people in England waiting for NHS hospital care, with some on the list since before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Speaking on the publication of the figures, Tracey Loftis, head of policy and public affairs at charity Versus Arthritis, called on the NHS to release the full figures so no patients are being left behind.
"Hundreds of thousands of people with arthritis are waiting for treatment in increasing pain, their mobility and quality of life getting worse. As longer waits increase the chances of complications, waiting several years for surgery is completely unacceptable," she said.
"The NHS must start publishing how long people are waiting beyond two years for treatment and report separately on hip and knee replacement waiting times, one of the worst-hit specialities in planned care. It is imperative that progress is made at reducing the backlog of people waiting for these operations."
Responding to the claims, an NHS spokesperson said: "NHS staff are working flat out to clear the backlogs that have inevitably built up throughout the pandemic with local teams using innovative approaches to reducing waits, such as one-stop shops and Super Saturdays, all while we continue to see busy emergency services and high numbers of hospitalised Covid patients.
"The NHS is expecting a busy Easter weekend for its staff across the country and we continue to urge people to come forward for the care they need, using NHS 111 online where possible - the NHS is here for you."
The government has aimed to eliminate all NHS backlogs for those who have been waiting for two or more years by July 2022, with specific NHS waiting times due to be published by the government on Thursday (April 14th).