UHNM: Almost 5,000 patients waiting a year for treatment

About 5,000 people have waited more than a year for treatment at a hospital trust due to demand on services.

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) "remains very busy", said Tracy Bullock, chief executive.

In September, the trust postponed some operations amid "pressures that are more demanding than the most difficult winters".

Ms Bullock said it is having to delay some work because of pressures caused by coronavirus.

UHNM runs both County Hospital in Stafford and Royal Stoke University Hospital.

Ms Bullock said it currently has 81 patients with Covid-19.

"All of those things are getting in the way of us doing things like our elective and planned work," she said. "We have patients waiting far longer than they should.

"The other impact is whilst we are so busy, our beds are full and ambulance waits are a significant issue at UHNM, and up and down the country as well.

"Pre-Covid we had no patients at all waiting more than 52 weeks, which was one of the national standards.

"We now have about 300 patients now who are waiting longer than two years so...we have probably got, about, nearly 5,000 patients now that are waiting longer than 52 weeks."

The trust, she said, "has to focus" on priority patients, like those in need of life-saving surgery or cancer patients.

She said the trust was "working hard" to reduce patient waiting times.

Ms Bullock said the trust is "concerned" about how winter pressures could impact on the trust, but planning is under way to manage the situation.

Extra investment, she said, needs to be put into community and social care to get people out of hospitals.

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