NHS waiting lists

The routine hospital waiting list is more than the population of Denmark. The general wait to see a neurologist is 18 months, a rheumatologist 18 months, while hip and knee replacements can take up to two years. These numbers are shameful and tell us the real state of the NHS due to continuous mismanagement and poor decision-making. We as GPs bear the brunt and so do our hospital colleagues. The two week cancer wait has become 10 weeks, which is appalling. Who will take responsibility for patient care? There is simply not enough capacity in the system. Despite 1800 less GPs, GP appointments are at a record high of 37million. It would be interesting to see what the government’s plan is given rising inflation, nurses, doctors and ambulance strikes. The healthcare system in this country is at breaking point.

The NHS was already under pressure due to underfunding and lack of staffing. The arrival of Covid and funnelling of resources away from routine care has exacerbated an already dire situation. I have patients who are now waiting up to three years for a hip replacement. Hospitals are refusing GP referrals as they have a massive backlog to get through and even cancer referrals are being delayed. Consequently, in the private sector, where I also work, I am seeing more and more people opting to pay for treatment to try to “jump the queue”. The problem is it’s the same doctors doing the treatment as those in the NHS so this only serves to compound the problem of long NHS waiting lists. Also, as the complexity of cases seen in the private sector increases they will start turning away/refusing cases too.