Hospital Waiting List Hits 6.5 Million in England
According to the latest figures released by the NHS, hospital waiting lists stand at a record high as nearly 6.5 million people in England are waiting for hospital treatment. This means that one in nine people in the population are waiting for care such as knee and hip replacements and eye surgery.
Statistics show that one in 20 persons have been waiting for more than a year
NHS England has however said that they were making progress as there were fewer people waiting for tests and there was a steady decline in the number of people waiting more than two years.
In other news, Tim Mitchell, of the Royal College of Surgeons, agreeing that progress was being made, said there was some "light at the end of the tunnel".
"Surgical teams have been working around the clock to reduce the enormous waiting list which built up during the pandemic.
"However, there are still big challenges ahead. As people return to the NHS, demand is only getting stronger."
He also opined that staff strength needed to be increased so as to increase the amount of surgery that could be done; even as ministers have warned the waiting list could keep rising until 2024.
Cancer Care Facing 'Crisis'
A worrying situation from the data released showed that cancer services were also struggling. Even after an urgent referral from a GP, some 21% still waited more than two weeks for a check-up with a cancer specialist in April
It was also discovered that 35% waited more than the target time of two months for treatment.
Co-founder of Catch Up With Cancer, Prof Pat Price, said: “It defies all reason that the government can look at these cancer statistics and not see a crisis. We are desperately short of treatment capacity.
"Increasing diagnosis means nothing if all we do is pile backlog patients onto sky-high waiting lists."
However, Prof Sir Stephen Powis, of NHS England, praised "hard-working NHS staff", saying significant progress was being made. But he agreed that the NHS was still facing pressures, including an increasing number of Covid patients.
How Can We Help?
When patients suffer as a result of medical negligence including being made to wait for a prolonged period of time despite being referred urgently leading to complications that could have been well avoided, such persons can make hospital negligence claims against the NHS.
At NHS negligence claims, we specialize in assisting people who were victims of hospital negligence or GP negligence to make claims and get compensated for their pain and suffering.
Our clients can enjoy our No Win No Fee offer when they choose to make claims with us. What this means is that you will not have to pay any legal fees before we can begin to undertake your claims.
Also, it is only at the end of a successful claim that we will require an already agreed percentage as compensation fee. Additionally, we offer our clients a free consultation session where we listen to them tell their stories and then evaluate the situation to see if there are strong grounds for hospital claims.
We also help our clients gather the documents needed for a successful medical negligence claim.
Our solicitors are experts in this area of law, so you can be sure to receive the best legal advice and representation as we fight to see that you get a befitting compensation amount.
You can reach out to us today by dialing our helplines to speak to one of our hospital negligence claims experts or you can fill out our online free claims assessment form to get started.