‘Trade-off’ means NHS operation waiting times set to rise

In order to improve care in high priority areas such as cancer care and accident and emergency targets, patients will have to face longer waits for routine operations such as hip and knee replacements.

Simon Stevens of NHS England has said that increasing pressures mean that the current 18 week waiting time target for treatment could no longer be guaranteed.

Changes will also include GPs having to reduce the number of patients they refer to hospital, using other services such as physiotherapy instead.

Mr Stevens, during the unveiling of a progress report for his five year strategy for the NHS, which was launched in 2014, said that the demand was rising faster than expected and that compromises had to be made in return for quicker A&E and cancer care.

Mr Stevens said “There is a trade-off here – we do expect there will be some marginal lengthening of waiting lists, but this will still represent a strong, quick experience compared to 10 years ago, let alone 20.”

However, president of the Royal College of Surgeons Clare Marx, said that the delays could result in more serious consequences.

“Our concern is not only for hip and knee patients, but those patients who perhaps are waiting for heart surgery. They may have a heart attack whilst they are waiting.”

The NHS Confederation’s chief executive Niall Dickson said “I think it is completely unreasonable to expect NHS services to provide everything when the restrictions on funding and the demand is rising all the time.”

The British Medical Society’s Dr Mark Porter said “Achieving one delivery promise only by missing another is a textbook example of rationing access to care. It should not be happening in today’s NHS.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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