Hospital waiting lists have more than doubled since 2012
Recent reports have revealed that the number of patients waiting for hospital treatment in England has more than doubled since 2012.
More than 350,000 patients are not receiving treatment within the targeted 18 weeks, bringing this to a 163% rise in four years.
The amount of people on the waiting list has climbed to almost 3.9 million, a 44% increase from 2012.
Claire Marx, president of the Royal College of Surgeons states;
“We cannot forget that behind these statistics are potentially very ill and anxious patients who are being made to wait far too long for treatment. This is the true impact of the serious financial pressure we’ve seen the NHS come under in recent months.”
The NHS is missing so many of its key performance targets; With almost a tenth of people on the list having had to wait over the 18-week threshold, delayed ambulance response times and bed blocking having reached record levels. It is becoming ever more apparent that the NHS is under a huge amount of strain, thus highlighting the obvious risks to patient care while the NHS struggles to meet its targets.
April 20, 2017
