Record number of patients waiting for routine treatment in Wigan

A record number of patients were waiting for routine treatment at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Trust in March, figures reveal.
The backlog could take years to clearThe backlog could take years to clear
The backlog could take years to clear

The size of the country’s waiting list has been described as “stomach-churning” by The Royal College of Surgeons which warned it will take years to clear.

NHS statistics show 29,416 patients were listed as waiting for elective operations or treatment at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust at the end of March, up from 28,340 at the end of February.

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It was also up from 23,459 the year before, and the highest figure for the month of March since comparable records began in 2012.

Across England, the number of people waiting to start hospital treatment rose to 4.95 million – the highest total since records began in August 2007.

The Royal College of Surgeons said the task ahead for NHS workers was vast following an “unimaginably difficult year”.

Vice president Tim Mitchell said: “With the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital at the lowest it has been since September last year, the recovery of planned surgery is fortunately now well underway.

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“Still, any prospect of chiselling down the waiting list, which is now five million people, is premature, because new patients are presenting daily.

“The task ahead is vast and many of the staff that support surgeons to operate, anaesthetists and nurses, are running on fumes after an unimaginably difficult year helping out on Covid-19 wards.”

NHS rules state that patients referred for non-urgent treatments under the care of a consultant should start treatment within 18 weeks.

But the figures also show 3,216 patients on waiting lists at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Trust at the end of March had been waiting for at least a year – 11 per cent of all those on the waiting list.

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The number of people waiting this long across England has risen to 436,100, up from 387,900 the month before and a record for any calendar month since August 2007.

The figures were released on the same day the NHS announced it will spend £160 million on an initiative to find new ways of tackling the vast backlog of care.

Money will be given to hospitals for mobile scanning trucks, carry out surgery in evenings and at weekends and to provide “virtual wards” where patients can be continually monitored while outside of the hospital environment.

Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief operating officer, said: “The additional support announced today will help us create a blueprint for continuing that progress over summer and beyond, in a way that doesn’t heap extra pressure on staff, so that as many people as possible benefit from the world-class care the NHS provides.”

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The investment has been welcomed by the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations in the health service.

But Danny Mortimer, chief executive of the body, said there were “bigger, bolder” moves that the Government needed to take like providing more capital funding to NHS trusts to help with the increased demand.