NHS crisis: long waits for surgery triple in four years The number of patients waiting more than six months for NHS surgery has tripled in the last four years, research […]

The number of patients waiting more than six months for NHS surgery has tripled in the last four years, research by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has found.

In March, the number of people waiting 26 weeks rose to 126,188, up from a low of 45,054 in March 2013 – a 180 per cent rise. But nine out of 10 patients were still treated within 18 weeks, data shows.

RCS president Clare Marx accused all the political parties of having “a blind spot” over the issue and called for more attention to be paid to the issue by whoever wins the General Election.

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“Many of these patients are older and in the most serious cases, such as for brain surgery, waiting longer could have a big effect on the quality of someone’s life and their eventual recovery from surgery.” Clare Marx, President, Royal College of Surgeons

She said: “Waiting times have come down a lot since 10 years ago and far fewer patients are waiting over a year for treatment.

“However, over the last few years waits for treatment have begun to head in the wrong direction once again. We are now struggling to meet the standards and timeliness of care that the public rightly expect.

“It is unacceptable for such a large number of patients to be waiting over half a year in pain and discomfort for treatment. This is the grim reality of the financial pressures facing the NHS.”

Earlier this year, NHS England boss Simon Stevens said growing pressures in the health service meant he could no longer guarantee treatment within the 18-week target time for operations such as knee and hip replacements.

The RCS said this is resulting in more people waiting for six to nine months or more for surgery in various specialities. The study found that surgical disciplines with the biggest increase in waiting times in the last four years were ear, nose and throat (up 256 per cent), urology (199 per cent), general surgery (146 per cent), oral surgery (146 per cent) and brain and spinal surgery (145 per cent).

Nine-month waits rising

The RCS analysis also found that the number of patients waiting more than nine months for surgery rose 209 per cent in the same four-year period, from 6,415 patients in March 2013 to 19,838 patients in March 2017.

Ms Marx added: “Many of these patients are older and in the most serious cases, such as for brain surgery, waiting longer could have a big effect on the quality of someone’s life and their eventual recovery from surgery.

“With the 18-week target now being deprioritised, our concern is that we will see a fast deterioration in waiting times with tens of thousands of more patients waiting longer than six months for surgery.”

The average waiting time for planned surgery is now just over six weeks, with 90.3% or 3.3 million people treated in under 18 weeks.

“Actually the NHS has cut the number of patients waiting more than a year for treatment by nearly 13,000 over the past five years, and spending on non-urgent surgery is continuing to rise.” Spokeswoman, NHS England

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have also seen increases in the numbers of people waiting more than six months for planned surgery since 2013, although the figures are not directly comparable because of the way they are measured.

NHS England declined to respond directly to the six-month figures.

A spokeswoman said: “Actually the NHS has cut the number of patients waiting more than a year for treatment by nearly 13,000 over the past five years, and spending on non-urgent surgery is continuing to rise.

“While the Royal College of Surgeons understandably lobbies for more spending on surgeons, in the real world they aren’t the only call on constrained NHS funding, which also has to support extra investment in GP services, modern cancer treatments, and expanded mental health services.”