4.5 million people enrolled on English hospital waiting lists in November

LONDON (Reuters) – The highest number of 4.5 million people in England was waiting for non-emergency hospital treatment in November and the number waiting more than a year has gone up, figures show, emphasizes the pressures on hospitals reduced by COVID-19 emergencies.

NHS England said essential services were maintained at the end of the year and cancer treatments and referrals were back to normal.

But 4.46 million patients were waiting for treatment to start in November, a high rate although it was only slightly up from 2019 figures ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

“These numbers are a strong reminder that the NHS faces an extremely difficult challenge,” said Stephen Powis, national medical director with the National Health Service (NHS).

“While millions of people are still being cared for for non-COVID health problems … there is no doubt that services will come under extra pressure until and unless this virus is controlled. ”

England entered a second national lockout on 5 November, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing the need to avoid a “medical and moral crisis” for the NHS.

A third of more restrictive national lockouts began last week after health officials warned there was a risk of overcrowding over the health system.

Of those waiting for treatment, 192,169 patients had been waiting more than 52 weeks, compared to just 1,400 years earlier, said Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at health charity King’s Fund.

A higher 3,700 patients had to wait 12 hours or more in accident and emergency units before being admitted to hospital last week, he said.

“Even emergency operations are being postponed in some parts of the country,” Anandaciva said.

“The goodwill and hard work of frontline staff is not enough to overcome long-standing staff shortages and reduce waiting times that rose well before the pandemic struck.”