Record number of patients left waiting a year for treatment at Sheffield hospitals due to Covid

The Nuffield Trust said the record size of the NHS waiting list across England shows the health service has been set back years by the coronavirus pandemic and now faces a "major backlog".

NHS rules state that patients referred for non-urgent consultant-led elective care should start treatment within 18 weeks.

But NHS statistics show 958 patients listed for elective operations or treatment at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at the end of February had been waiting for at least a year – 2% of all those on the waiting list.

This was a huge increase from none the year before, and the highest figure for the month of February since comparable records began in 2012.

Meanwhile, 721 patients listed for elective operations or treatment at Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust at the end of February had been waiting for at least a year. This is 8% of all those on the waiting list, and has also risen from zero the year before and is the highest since records began.

This comes as Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts called on the Government to provide more funding to support the NHS in dealing with the backlog of cancer patients whose treatment was delayed due to the pandemic.

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Mr Betts told The Star: “There have been many treatments that have had to be put on hold or delayed and that is particularly concerning around cancer.

"I think the Sheffield NHS Trust did very well in trying to manage the impact but there are a lot of worried people who have had treatments delayed and they don’t know what is going to happen and that is why extra money is needed.”

The Sheffield Trusts have been approached for comment.

The Nuffield Trust said the strain of the backlog on patients should not be underestimated, but added it is no surprise given the intense pressure of Covid-19 hospitalisations.

Sarah Scobie, deputy director of research at the organisation, said healthcare staff have made huge sacrifices during the pandemic, but more will be asked of them.

She added: “It is clear that the NHS has been set back years as it faces a battle to clear these major backlogs of postponed care.

"Returning to the levels of activity seen before March last year will not be enough to meet demand, and we will continue to live with coronavirus for years to come."

Overall, 47,802 people were waiting to start hospital treatment at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust at the end of February – an increase of 302 on February 2020.

And 9,009 people were waiting to start hospital treatment at Sheffield Children's Trust at the end of February – an increase of 1% on January.

The number of people waiting this long across England has risen to 387,900 – the highest total since December 2007, and almost 250 times that of February 2020.

Across England, 4.7 million people were waiting for treatment at this time – the highest number since records began in mid-2007.

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This was up from 4.6 million in January, and means almost half a million patients have been added to the waiting list since the pandemic began in March 2020.

The King's Fund said long waiting times do not just affect patients, with concerns growing over access to community services and mental health provision.

David Maguire, senior analyst at the think-tank, said: "The Government needs to be honest with the public and start planning for long-term NHS recovery.

"A good place to start would be with a fully funded workforce strategy to address the persistent staff shortages that have dogged the service for years."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Government will ensure the NHS has the funds it needs to tackle the build-up in waiting lists.

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said treating 400,000 patients with Covid-19 has "inevitably" impacted the NHS, but the dedication of staff means they delivered almost a million operations and procedures during the winter wave.