New Waiting List Statistics Overlook Pre-Diagnosis Delays, Says Independent Healthcare Provider

• NHS reports 7.62 million treatments were pending as of the end of June, involving 6.39 million patients (1).
• However, according to a new poll, 30% of people currently on an NHS waiting list waited over a year from the awareness of their condition to being added to the list (2).

With NHS waiting lists increasing for the third consecutive month, according to new figures released yesterday (1), a private healthcare provider has highlighted that these statistics fail to account for the time it takes to receive a diagnosis before a patient is added to a treatment waiting list.

A study conducted by Practice Plus Group found that 30% of individuals currently on an NHS waiting list for treatment waited over a year from the awareness of their condition to being placed on the list. This percentage rises to 40% for those aged 65-74, who are enduring the longest wait times of any age group to be added to an NHS list.

Other findings from the Savanta data poll commissioned by the group, which surveyed 2,000 people in the UK, include:

• Regarding orthopaedic surgery—one of the specialties most impacted by waiting lists—42% of those who have had or are waiting for a hip replacement on the NHS waited over a year before being added to the NHS list; the figure is 40% for knee replacements.
• Of all those who have had or are waiting for gynaecological surgery, 37% have waited over a year to be placed on a list.
• 30% of people who have recently paid for their surgery privately are what Wes Streeting coined ‘NHS refugees’; they had been on an NHS waiting list for over a year before going private [in addition to the time they waited to get on the list].

Dr Marjorie Gillespie, a GP and Medical Director at Practice Plus Group, commented: “We are finding that people are waiting to access NHS services, whether through a feeling of hopelessness, not wanting to add more pressure to the NHS, or not being able to access GP appointments.

“Others are entering the system but are encountering increased restrictions to qualify for a referral to consultant-led treatment.

For instance, orthopaedic patients being passed from physio to injections, or even needing to endure pain for a certain length of time before being added to a list for surgery.

Consulting with an NHS consultant can provide patients with expert guidance and access to specialized treatments within the public healthcare system.

“Opening up more appointments, empowering patients with more choice of where to receive their treatment, and utilising the private sector will all help drive down waiting lists under the new administration.”