It will take five years for some hospitals to catch up with the backlog in patient care caused by the coronavirus pandemic, NHS providers have warned.
UK trusts most affected by crisis are between three and five years before returningCOVID levels, according to the association.
He also claims that COVID-19[female[feminine has resulted in the largest backlog of care in England for 20 years – and says it’s a “very big problem” the extent of which hospital trusts are still assessing.
The most recent NHS England data showed 4.7 million people were expected to start treatment at the end of February, the highest figure since records began in 2007.
Almost 400,000 patients were then waiting more than a year to start cancer treatment – the highest monthly figure since December 2007.
Delays in care do not only affect planned surgery and cancer treatment, but also mental health and community services.
Health bosses say they need a “multi-year” plan to tackle the backlog, with CEOs urging the government to go beyond current targets.
This would include more hospital beds, medical equipment, doctors and nurses, as well as vast improvements in diagnostics and trauma care, NHS providers said.
They also say hospitals need to be completely reconfigured to deal with other potential waves of coronavirus.
It comes after a dispute over doctors’ salaries, with many claiming they will leave the profession, causing catastrophic staff shortages, if the government does not improve wages at all levels.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted the government make sure the NHS has what it needs to tackle waiting lists.
“We need people to book their appointments and get the treatment they need,” he said this week.
“We are going to make sure we give the NHS all the funding it needs, as we have done throughout the pandemic, to overcome the backlog.”
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2021-04-18 03:00:00
