Expanded capacity could cut hospital waiting lists

Hospital bosses have said increased capacity in two services could help to eliminate 15-month waits for treatment.

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) recently authorised an expansion in capacity of its gastroenterology and respiratory provision.

Managers believe the move would have a “significant impact” on reducing waiting lists, with 1,202 of the trust’s patients, as of May, waiting 65 weeks or more for treatment across its sites.

Before the pandemic, no patients at UHNM, which runs Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital, Stafford, waited more than a year for elective care.

The trust's chief operating officer Simon Evans told a UHNM board meeting on Wednesday that the aim was to reduce the number of people waiting 65 weeks or more to zero by the end of September.

He said gastroenterology and respiratory were among the more "challenged specialities" and the trust had outsourced these services to help with recovery.

But he said the expansion of in-house provision for those specialities should make a big difference.

“I’m pleased to say that we’ve now authorised a substantial increase in the level of capacity for both those services, and we are expecting them, from this weekend, to start having a significant impact in reducing that waiting list,” he said.

“Our ambition is to get to a position of having no patients waiting more than 65 weeks by the end of September. That was a moderate risk for us, but I’m pleased to say that risk is now reducing as we deploy these additional services.”

The board meeting came after UHNM declared a critical incident on Tuesday, citing increased pressure on emergency departments at both hospitals.

A spokesperson urged people to only use A&E in serious or life-threatening emergencies and warned that there might be longer delays than usual.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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