Long surgery waits 'have tripled in four years’

The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has warned that the number of patients waiting six months or more for surgery has tripled over the past four years.

NHS data has shown that, despite nine out of 10 patients still treated within 18 weeks, approximately 130,000 people had been waiting for operations after being referred to a consultant in March this year, compared to 45,000 in March 2013.

Additionally, figures show that nearly 20,000 people had been waiting for more than nine months for surgery in March, three times more than in the same month of 2013. The average waiting time for planned surgery is now just over six weeks, with 90.3 per cent of patients treated in under 18 weeks.

While NHS England stating that it had cut the number of patients waiting more than a year for treatment by nearly 13,000 over the past five years, its chief executive Simon Stevens has reiterated earlier this year that unprecedented pressures means that it could no longer guarantee treatment within the 18-week target time for operations such as knee and hip replacements.

The RCS says this is resulting in more people waiting for six to nine months or more for surgery, in specialities such as ear, nose and throat, brain and spinal, and general surgery, with the biggest increases in waiting times happening in dermatology and gynaecology.

Clare Marx, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: "We are now struggling to meet the standards and timeliness of care that the public rightly expect. It is unacceptable for such a large number of patients to be waiting this long in pain and discomfort for treatment. This is the grim reality of the financial pressures facing the NHS.

"When pressures in emergency departments rise, patients awaiting planned surgery can have their operations cancelled or delayed until more space becomes available. In this election we urge all political parties to make timely access to surgery an urgent priority."