New survey into NHS elective surgery shows increase in waiting times and fewer procedures carried out

Posted: 26/04/2012

The latest research from The Patients Association into planned surgery in the NHS reveals waiting times for surgical procedures has increased, whilst the number of operations actually taking place has reduced.

The Patients Association, a charity that campaigns on behalf of patients, submitted Freedom of Information requests to the 170 NHS acute trusts in England, asking for information on waiting times for elective surgery in ‘key’ areas, including surgery on hips, knees, hernias, gallstones and cataracts. The organisation then compared the figures from the 93 trusts that responded with figures from its earlier survey (published in March 2010).

The results revealed that, overall, waiting times increased by 6% between 2010 and 2011. For those waiting for knee, hernia or gallstone operations, waiting times increased by 10%. Patients waiting for knee replacement surgery had the largest increase – an average of 10.3 days, whilst patients waiting for hernia operations had to wait an extra eight days.

The survey also showed that fewer operations were performed in seven out of eight ‘key’ areas, with operation numbers falling by 4.6% overall when compared with the figures for 2010. Out of the 93 trusts which responded, 53 had conducted fewer operations. Cataract operations showed the largest decline with 7.5% fewer operations than in 2010.

The chief executive of the Patients Association, Katherine Murphy, said that ‘unfortunately the results this year show a continuation of the trend and an even more marked increase in waiting times’. Professor Norman Williams, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, speaking to The Guardian about the survey, said that ‘patients who do not get the treatment they need within an appropriate time could be storing up problems for the future’.

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