Number of patients waiting over a year for NHS treatment doubles to 100k in just months

The number of people waiting more than a year for treatment on the NHS in England has doubled in just two months to more than 100,000 people.

According to new data from NHS England released on Thursday a total of 111,000 patients were waiting longer than a year for treatment by August.

The numbers have increased rapidly due to the coronavirus which forced hospitals to cancel many routine operations earlier in the year.

In February, the number of patients waiting over a year was just 1,163.

President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Professor Neil Mortensen, said: “Today’s data show what a mountain the NHS has to climb to get on top of the immense backlog of planned operations. But the continued recovery of surgical services cannot be taken for granted.  Winter pressures from a flu outbreak, along with a resurging incidence of coronavirus, will put the fragile recovery of planned surgery at risk.”

NHS patients should be treated within 18 weeks of being referred with the total NHS waiting list now at more than four million.  

The number of people waiting more than 18 weeks to start hospital treatment in England stood at 1.96 million in August, three times the number for August 2019 and the second highest total for any month since records began in August 2007.

It is down slightly from the record high number for July this year, which was 2.15 million.

The total number of people admitted for routine treatment in hospitals in England was down 43 per cent in August compared with a year ago.

Some 155,789 patients were admitted for treatment during the month, down from 275,267 in August 2019.

On waits for diagnostic tests, a total of 472,088 patients waited more than six weeks for one of 15 standard tests, including an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy. The equivalent number waiting for more than six weeks in August 2019 was 42,926.

Tim Gardner, senior policy fellow at the Health Foundation, said: "Despite progress in reopening routine hospital services, waiting times are increasing as the NHS struggles to tackle a growing backlog of care. The official data is just the tip of the iceberg as some patients are still waiting for services to fully open to new referrals while many others may have felt uncomfortable visiting their GP during the lockdown. 

"Meanwhile, the health service is beginning to experience pressure from growing numbers of patients with Covid-19, as well as the expected increase in seasonal illnesses as people go back to work and school. September saw 36 per cent more calls to NHS 111 than the same month last year, while emergency admissions are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.    

“The government must not underestimate the resources that the NHS will need as we approach a winter with Covid-19. Without additional staff and facilities, we risk losing the progress that has been made over the summer in restoring non-Covid services as emergency pressures surge.”

The NHS England data also shows urgent cancer referrals were down 15 per cent compared to the same month last year. A total of 169,660 referrals were made by GPs in England compared with 200,317 last year.Cancer referrals dropped 19 per cent in July, 21 per cent  in June and 47 per cent in May compared to the same months last year.Urgent breast cancer referrals were down 28 per cent from 13,220 in August 2019 to 9,498 this year.

Sara Bainbridge, head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said the disruption to cancer diagnosis and treatment was having a traumatic impact on patients’ lives.

She said: “Today’s data shows that, six months from the start of the pandemic, there were still thousands fewer people being tested or treated for cancer than the same time last year, meaning that the backlog of patients continues to grow.

“The implications of this are extremely worrying.”

Hospitals have been set a target by NHS England to restore services back to 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by the end of this month and on Wednesday NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said hospitals were on track to achieve this.

An NHS England spokesperson said: “Hospitals are carrying out more than a million routine appointments and operations per week, with around three times the levels of elective patients admitted to hospital than in April, as they continue to make progress on getting services back to pre-Covid levels including scanning services which are delivering millions of urgent checks and tests.

"It is obviously vital for patients that this progress continues, and isn't jeopardised by a second wave of covid infections spiralling out of control."

On cancer services, NHS England said: "Cancer clinicians worked hard to ensure that despite the disruption and acute pressures from covid, around 85 per cent of cancer treatments continued during the pandemic with over 246,000 people receiving treatment and more than 870,000 referred for checks since the start of March.

"Cancer and screening services are open, ready and able to receive patients so anyone who is concerned about a possible cancer symptom should contact their GP and come forward for a check.”

Meanwhile, the government is set to launch a new campaign aiming to encourage patients suffering with non-Covid-related conditions to visit their GPs over winter.

The campaign, “Help Us to Help You”, is being rolled out in a bid to combat messaging earlier in the pandemic, which urged the public to stay away from GP surgeries and hospitals in a bid to stem the spread of the virus.