Average wait for NHS routine operation extends by two weeks in twelve months

An investigation has found that NHS patients are currently waiting up to two weeks longer for a routine operation than they were a year ago, with some patients waiting for more than two years.

The figures showed that, although health service rules state that patients should be treated within 18 weeks, the average wait for a knee replacement in 2016/17 was 114 days (nearly four months) compared to 100 days in the previous twelve months, and patients were regularly waiting more than twelve months for tonsil, knee, hip, cataract, gallstone or hernia procedures.

The Royal College of Surgeon’s vice president, Professor Neil Mortenson, said “This is yet further evidence that longer waits are affecting every individual patient.

“This winter has the potential to be especially tough, so surgeons are concerned that more patients, many of them old and frail, will be left waiting in pain and discomfort for even longer lengths of time.

“Waiting longer for surgery can have a significant impact on a patient’s quality of life and in some cases, longer waits can reduce the effectiveness of surgery.

Charity Age UK’s Caroline Abrahams, said “Having to wait a long time for an operation or procedure may not only condemn an older person to misery and pain, it can also undermine their resilience and make it harder for them to sustain their independence.

“Long waits can be deeply distressing for older people and their families and often make no economic sense as people are put at greater risk of needing emergency care or can find themselves relying on others to carry out day to day tasks.”

The investigation revealed that local trust The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals said that a patient had waited 553 days for a knee replacement procedure because they had been ‘incorrectly coded’.

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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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