Against incredible strain, NHS makes serious inroads into treatment backlogs

Responding to the latest monthly NHS England performance statistics, Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said:

“Against incredible strain, NHS teams have managed to make serious inroads into the backlogs that have resulted from the pandemic. Health leaders and staff deserve to be proud of the fact that the NHS delivered 2.1 million diagnostic tests in May – the highest ever figure for that month.

“Since February, when a plan for recovering elective services was first published, the number of people waiting more than two years for elective surgery has fallen by more than 80 per cent.

“The NHS has also made vital progress restoring cancer services. In May, over 242,000 people were seen for urgent cancer checks and almost 30,000 people began cancer treatment.

“However, the NHS is not on a linear and certain path to full recovery. High demand and systemic challenges faced by our health service may continue to frustrate efforts to provide the best possible care to patients.

“The NHS experienced its highest ever number of A&E attendances and ambulance callouts for the month of June. Due in part to social care shortages, more than half of the patients deemed fit for discharge in June also remained in hospital, contributing to high bed occupancy. This comes as independent analysis shows that hospital bed capacity has more than halved over the last three decades, leaving the NHS with one of the lowest rates of hospital beds per person among comparable countries.

“These challenges may hinder the resilience of the NHS as Covid cases and Covid-related staff absences continue to rise, and as the heatwave causes a number of medical emergencies across the country this week.”