England’s health service squeezed by summer demand and record waiting lists
NHS England updates
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Record-breaking waiting lists for routine hospital treatment and unprecedented summer demand for emergency services are heaping pressure on England’s health service despite plateauing Covid-19 admissions, according to the latest NHS data.
Around 5.45m people were waiting for non-urgent operations in England at the end of June, the highest number since records began in August 2007. A total of 304,803 people have been forced to wait more than a year for care, a 10 per cent fall on the previous month but a six-fold increase on the figure in June last year.
However, the data also show that average waiting times for elective care fell for the fourth month in a row to 10.4 weeks. This is more than seven weeks below levels in June 2020, when waiting times were close to a record high following the cancellation of most routine operations during the first wave.
The ambulance service handled more than 1m 999 calls in July, the highest monthly figure on record. Accident and emergency departments also had to contend with high levels of demand for summer as 2.16m people attended A&E in July. Nearly 90,000 of those had to wait for four hours to get a bed after being admitted.
The new data underline the growing summer crisis in England’s NHS, which despite being spared a surge in Covid-19 admissions is struggling to recover from the pandemic.
Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England medical director, said staff had made “effective use” of additional resources provided to them as they tackled the post-pandemic backlog.
But Katherine Henderson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said she worried the public perception was that things were “getting back to normal” ahead of the August 16 easing of self-isolation rules. She said the reality was that the health service was “really struggling”.
From Monday, double-vaccinated adults and under-18s in England will no longer legally be required to self-isolate after coming into close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus. Instead, they will be asked to take a PCR test and advised to wear a face mask and limit social contact.
Layla McCay, director of policy at NHS Confederation which represents healthcare organisations across the country, said the figures showed the “monumental challenge” faced by the health service and called on the government to offer “clarity” on a funding boost later in the year.
“The government must take steps now to make sure the NHS can cope as autumn and winter are expected to be even tougher than usual this year,” she added.
Recent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that the number of people on NHS waiting lists could more than double to 14m by autumn next year.
Meanwhile, coronavirus cases in the UK have started to climb again over the past week, suggesting an increase in hospital admissions could soon follow.
Dr Sarah Scobie, deputy research director at the healthcare think-tank Nuffield Trust, said she expected the demands placed on the health service to have a knock-on effect on the care patients receive.
“With beds taken out of the system due to Covid-19 and staff stretched because of isolation requests, the impact on quality of care for people needing to be admitted to hospital is likely to be significant,” she said.
“It will take many years to clear this still growing backlog unless the services can boost resources to support these efforts,” Scobie added.