More than 200,000 patients waiting for routine treatment at Black Country hospital trusts

It comes as a leading health charity says the NHS is grappling with "really serious challenges", as typical winter pressures are to be made worse by the cost-of-living crisis and Covid-19.

NHS England figures show a combined 211,327 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust at the end of August – up from 154,043 in August 2021.

Nationally, seven million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of August.

Hospital bosses in the region say staff are working hard to reduce backlogs and measures are being taken to help reduce pressures in the the future.

Diane Wake, SRO elective and diagnostics & cancer Black Country and West Birmingham, said: “Our staff are working exceptionally hard to address the backlogs, as set out in the elective recovery plan and, despite higher levels of Covid-19 than expected and demand for services, staff are making significant progress – eliminating two-year waits and making inroads on 18 months.

“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 – allowing patients to spend less time in hospital and recover in the comfort of their own homes.”

Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at the King's Fund, a health charity, said the NHS is struggling with "crumbling buildings and outdated equipment, long waiting lists for care, high levels of Covid-19 and growing staff shortages."

"Successive governments’ refusal to confront the worsening health and care workforce crisis and their chronic underinvestment in NHS buildings and infrastructure has created this mix of problems.

"This winter, typical seasonal pressures on NHS services will be amplified by Covid-19 and a cost-of-living crisis that could impact on people’s physical and mental health," she added.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This level of performance is not what patients expect and we must do better for them.

"The Deputy Prime Minister has set out her ABCD priorities – easing pressures on ambulances, clearing the Covid backlogs, supporting the care sector so patients can leave hospital and improving access to doctors and dentists.

“The public can support the NHS this winter by getting their flu jabs and Covid booster vaccines if eligible.”

It was recently announced that new health centres designed to tackle Covid backlogs are to open at two sites in the Black Country by early 2025.

Merry Hill Health Centre in Brierley Hill and Castle Hill Institute of Technology in Dudley have been chosen as the sites to host the new community diagnostic centres, which will deliver CT scans, MRIs and x-rays for patients.

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