Hospital staff 'working round the clock' to tackle backlog

NHS data showed 293,936 people were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at the end of September – up almost 6,000 from August.

And of that sum over 11,000 had been waiting longer than a year for treatment as pressures continue to mount on the health service in the run-up to winter.

But chiefs from the region's biggest hospitals have reassured people that staff are working "extremely hard" but acknowledged it was frustrating for many.

Diane Wake, elective care lead for the Black Country Integrated Care system, said: "We know that patients are waiting longer than we would like, and NHS staff are working extremely hard to address the backlogs. Despite exceptionally high demand for services, we are making significant progress, with almost 200,000 procedures being carried out every month across the Black Country. We have a particular focus on tackling the longest waiting times and are proud that ours was one of the first systems to eliminate 104-week waits.

“Considerable investment has been made in surgical hubs and diagnostic centres that will help to protect elective treatments from wider pressures, especially in future years. Increasing the use of technology such as robotic surgery and having dedicated day case units also helps to increase the amount of elective procedures that can be carried out, and allows patients to spend less time in hospital and recover in the comfort of their own homes."

The backlog at hospital trusts was 71,208 in Wolverhampton, 68,155 for Sandwell and Birmingham, 42,899 in Dudley, 33,831 in Walsall and 77,843 in Staffordshire – with 11,315 having been waiting for longer than a year for treatment.

It includes people waiting at sites including New Cross Hospital, Sandwell General Hospital, Russells Hall Hospital, Walsall Manor Hospital and Stafford's County Hospital among others.

Paul Bytheway, chief operating officer at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS which runs the Stafford hospital, said: “We know that it can be frustrating for patients who are waiting for treatment and apologise to those who have been waiting far longer than we would want to receive their elective procedure.

“Our staff are continuing to work around the clock to help reduce waiting times, prioritising patients who have been waiting the longest and are the most in clinical need. We continue to receive a high number of first appointments and it is vitally important that anybody who has health needs continues to come forward so that staff can help people with the best options for their care.

Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said the figures show "standards are at an unacceptably poor level" that will deteriorate during the winter and that pressure to deliver care is at an unsustainable level.

NHS medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: "There is no doubt October has been a challenging month for staff, who are now facing a tripledemic of Covid, flu and record pressure on emergency services with more people attending A&E or requiring the most urgent ambulance callout than any other October.

He said pressure on emergency services remains high due to a shortage of hospital beds, but that "staff have kept their foot on the accelerator to get the backlog down".

"We have always said the overall waiting list would rise as more patients come forward, and, with pressures on staff set to increase over the winter months, the NHS has a plan – including a new falls service, 24/7 war rooms, and extra beds and call handlers," he added.