Almost 40,000 patients now waiting for routine hospital treatment

NHS England figures show almost 40,000 patients – 37,901 – were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust at the end of August.

This was up from 30,779 in August 2021 and of those patients, 3,015 had been waiting for longer than a year.

Separate figures show 13,635 patients at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital, were waiting for one of 12 standard tests, such as an MRI scan or gastroscopy at this time.

And other figures show cancer patients at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital are not being seen quickly enough.

The NHS states 85 per cent of cancer patients urgently referred by a GP should start treatment within 62 days.

But NHS England data shows just 51 per cent of patients urgently referred by the NHS who received cancer treatment at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital in August began treatment within two months of their referral.

That was down from both 55 per cent in July, and 66 per cent in August 2021 last year.

Nick White, chief medical officer for NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, said: “We are working hard as a health and care system to bring down our waiting lists for planned treatment.

“NHS services across the country, including in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, are under significant pressure due to the continued impact of Covid, high levels of staff vacancies, and ongoing challenges across the urgent and emergency care pathway.

“We appreciate that is no comfort to anyone waiting to get the treatment they need, and I assure them that we are doing all we can to get to them as quickly as we can – making sure we prioritise by clinical need so that those who need treatment the most are seen first.

“Our providers and their staff are pulling out all the stops to increase capacity and reduce our waiting lists, whilst being considerate to the health and well-being of our own staff.

“Winter is always a busy period for the NHS, with this year likely to be even more challenging, and we have detailed plans to address additional pressure.”

The figures come 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.

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chief analyst at the King's Fund, a health charity, said the NHS is struggling with "crumbling buildings and outdated equipment, long waiting lists for care, high levels of Covid-19 and growing staff shortages."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

"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."

Meanwhile, 4,655 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust at the end of August – up from 3,470 in August 2021.

And 14,007 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust at the end of August – an increase on 12,886 in August 2021.

At Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, 1,952 patients were waiting for one of four standard tests, such as an MRI scan or non-obstetric ultrasound at this time.

Of them, 931 or 48 per cent had been waiting for at least six weeks.