8 in 10 NHS hospitals are treating FEWER sufferers now than earlier than Covid

The majority of NHS hospitals in England are nonetheless clearing fewer sufferers off their ready lists than they have been earlier than Covid, MailOnline evaluation exhibits.

Roughly 287,000 elective procedures, corresponding to hip and knee ops, have been carried out throughout January.

Yet 300,000-plus have been carried out throughout the identical month in 2020 — two months earlier than the pandemic hit Britain and precipitated NHS ready lists to spiral to a document excessive.

Eight in 10 NHS trusts are nonetheless performing under pre-pandemic ranges, based on our evaluation of native knowledge.

Three carried out almost half as many, regardless of the Government pledging to eradicate the backlog that has amassed because the Covid disaster started by drastically ramping up exercise.

A document 7.21million Brits have been caught on the backlog on the finish of January — up from 4.4million earlier than Covid.

The surge in Covid admissions throughout the pandemic noticed workers redeployed to deal with contaminated sufferers and 1000’s of operations cancelled.

The record has continued to creep up regardless of Covid ranges declining as extra Brits come ahead for therapy and hospitals wrestle to return to pre-pandemic capability. 

MailOnline’s evaluation comes after the three-day strike by junior medical doctors, thought of among the many worst within the well being service’s historical past.

Health officers have warned targets to curb ready lists are ‘below menace’ due to the unprecedented motion, which noticed as much as 60,000 medics stroll out of hospitals throughout England and demand an inflation-busting 35 per cent pay rise.

MailOnline appeared on the efficiency of 133 NHS trusts in England and in contrast the variety of procedures they carried out amongst sufferers that had been referred for elective therapy this January towards the identical month in 2020.

The determine doesn’t embrace emergency surgical procedures, most cancers therapies or diagnostic procedures.

But it does embrace in a single day hip operations and day case procedures, corresponding to cataract removals.

Just 29 trusts carried out greater than they did pre-Covid.

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which figures recommend has seen the largest drop, carried out simply 2,170 in the beginning of this 12 months.

For comparability, it managed 4,278 throughout the identical month three years in the past.

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, which is likely one of the largest within the nation and serves a inhabitants of half one million, was the next-worst offender.

Data means that it carried out 48.6 per cent fewer operations in the beginning of 2023 (3,036) in comparison with three years earlier (1,559). 

Some trusts disputed the figures, arguing they solely present a snapshot of hospital exercise. However, the information is the one metric of elective procedures carried out that’s printed by the NHS. 

At the opposite finish of the size, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital skilled a 115.9 per cent improve in its exercise (542 vs 251).

Professor Fiona Myint, vp of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, mentioned not having sufficient workers was making it exhausting to chip away on the backlog.

Staff shortages and absences amongst nurses and anaesthetists means operations are cancelled at quick discover ‘each week’, she mentioned.

Professor Myint known as for a workers increase as a result of with out this ‘lowering the backlog of sufferers ready for therapy will likely be troublesome and gradual’. Many of those will likely be in agonising ache.

The NHS workforce plan, because of be printed this month, is predicted to double the variety of medical college locations in England and permit medical doctors to be educated on the job in a bid to spice up recruitment.

Under the NHS restoration plan, unveiled by former Health Secretary Sajid Javid final 12 months, the Government ordered the NHS to ship round 30 per cent extra procedures than pre-pandemic ranges by 2024/25. 

Without boosting exercise, the backlog might spiral to 14million, well being chiefs concern. 

The well being service is meant to scrap 18 month waits by subsequent month and 12 month waits by March 2025, below Mr Javid’s blueprint.

In a speech in January, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mentioned that bringing down the NHS ready record and getting folks ‘the care they want extra rapidly’ was certainly one of 5 priorities for the 12 months.

However, a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies final month warned that the 30 per cent goal is ‘extremely unlikely to be achieved’ because of the lingering results of Covid and different pressures on the system.

It expects the backlog to stay flat all through 2023 and solely fall regularly from mid-2024.

The NHS rolled out 1000’s of ‘digital wards’ — treating and monitoring sufferers in their very own house fairly than hospital — in a bid to deal with the backlog.

And it has rolled out extra healthcare groups in the neighborhood to ease demand on hospitals.

It comes as newest NHS figures final week revealed that the backlog grew by 13,000 in January to succeed in a document excessive. 

It means there’s 64 per cent extra folks caught within the queue in comparison with earlier than Covid struck. 

Some 379,245 — one in 20 of these within the backlog — had been ready not less than 12 months.

And 45,631 folks had been ready for not less than 18 months. Although that determine has since fallen to across the 32,000 mark.

The NHS final week claimed that the variety of folks ready longest for hospital care has fallen, regardless of winter pressures and strikes. 

A spokesperson for University Hospitals Birmingham, mentioned: ‘Overall, UHB has carried out 12 per cent extra inpatient elective procedures in January 2023 in comparison with January 2020, with our groups having labored exceptionally exhausting to eradicate the longest waits for sufferers. 

‘They are persevering with of their extraordinary efforts for sufferers to make sure that we stay forward of our plans to eradicate the following cohort (waits of 78 weeks) by the beginning of April; in step with nationwide expectations.’

The 12 per cent rise consists of all day instances and elective therapies, based on the belief.

A spokesperson for Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust, which carried out 37.5 per cent fewer procedures, mentioned: ‘We are a Community Trust and our enterprise is predominantly centred round offering group providers in folks’s houses and we subsequently solely perform a really small variety of inpatient procedures.

‘Given the small base variety of inpatient procedures the discount in affected person phrases can also be small, nonetheless, we proceed to work to enhance effectivity and maximise entry to therapy for our sufferers.’

Diane Wake, chief government of The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, which carried out 37.5 per cent fewer procedures, mentioned: ‘We are actually proud that we provide extra day case surgical procedure to our sufferers which suggests they do not should be admitted to hospital to have a process. This is a a lot better expertise for them.

‘Between January 2020 and January 2023, we noticed a 106 per cent improve within the variety of sufferers who acquired a day case process. Combining admitted and non-admitted sufferers over the identical interval exhibits a complete improve of 35.4 per cent.’

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which logged the third and seventh largest drop, have rolled out new affected person document programs which have impacted its knowledge.