MPs right to raise concerns on NHS waiting times, but progress is being made
Responding to the Public Accounts Committee’s report 'NHS backlogs and waiting times in England', Matthew Taylor chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said:
“MPs on the Public Accounts Committee are right to raise concerns about lengthening waiting times in the NHS. We are paying the price for the longest financial squeeze in the NHS’ history during the 2010s. This has left the NHS with over 110,000 staff vacancies, a shortage of key equipment and many buildings in need of repair – all of which has contributed to lengthening waiting lists.
“The good news is that the NHS is treating more patients than ever and is committed to delivering 30 per cent more operations and procedures by 2025 than it was before the pandemic. We are also seeing improvements in cancer, with the number of people getting checked for cancer increasing by over half a million between December 2020 and December 2021. Referrals are also increasing, with over 215,000 urgent referrals for cancer in December and more than nine out of 10 people starting treatment within one month. Everyone working in the NHS knows this is a mammoth task but there are positive signs that progress is being made.
“The Committee is right to flag two major areas of concern though. The first is that we still can’t be sure how many people who didn’t come forward for treatment during the pandemic may now do so. We could be looking at up to nine million missing referrals of patients for elective care, with anything up to 740,000 missing urgent referrals for suspected cancer. No one can predict what will happen to the size of the waiting list as a result of this uncertainty.
“The second area of concern is the impact of staff shortages on the NHS’ ability to bring down waiting lists. We have over 110,000 vacancies and still no sign of a long-term, fully costed plan for growing the size of the workforce.
“Until we find a credible way of addressing these shortages then we won’t make the inroads into the care backlog that are required. Until then, the Committee is right to point out that we will continue to rely on staff who have been working under intense and sustained pressure for two years. They must be supported otherwise many more will face burnout.”
