Problems within the NHS are only going to get worse, the Patients Association has warned, after a study showed that tens of thousands of people are being forced to wait more than 18 weeks for routine surgery.
A report entitled Feeling the Wait found that hospital trusts across England each cancelled an average of 753 operations on the day in 2015. Equipment shortages, a lack of beds and scheduling errors were the main reasons given to patients in such cases, the authors said.
The total number of procedures cancelled by individual trusts ranged from eight to 3,269.
The report said: “We have grown increasingly concerned at the waits patients are facing for surgery and the amount of patients who have had their operation cancelled on the day.
“There is a significant psychological burden on patients waiting to be given a date for surgery and for patients whose surgery has been cancelled (often on the day the surgery was due to take place).”
The study highlighted substantial increases in the number of patients waiting longer than 18 weeks for routine operations.
“This year’s report based on 2015 data shows that on the whole, waiting times are getting worse, not better,” the authors wrote.
Full story at The Guardian 16 August 2016