Number of people waiting for treatment at Leicester hospitals rises again
The number of people waiting for non-emergency care has risen for the second month in a row. There were 113,500 patients on the city’s hospital waiting lists in July, the latest figures available from the NHS show.
This compares with 112,638 the previous month, but is lower than the October 2022 peak when there were 130,832 people on the list, the Reach Data Unit said. Chief operating officer at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) Jon Melbourne told LeicestershireLive fluctuations in the numbers of people on waiting lists are expected and can be "impacted by a range of issues, including the number of people referred for consultant-led care".
While the number of Leicester and Leicestershire residents waiting for care increased, UHL said the length of time individuals are waiting has dropped. Mr Melbourne acknowledged long waits can impact on quality of life, and said UHL is continuing to work towards a target of no-one waiting for more than a year for care.
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He said: “While the number of people on our waiting lists increased slightly during July, the length of time people are waiting for treatment at our hospitals continues to decrease. From month-to-month there will be fluctuations in the overall number of people on the list and that can be impacted by a range of issues including the number of people referred for consultant-led care.
“We know that long waits impact on people and their quality of life. That is why our focus, alongside partners, is to continue to make nationally leading progress for patients and communities as we work towards the NHS England target of no-one waiting more than a year for treatment by March 2025.”
Statistics also showed some people are continuing to face delays in A&E. Some 40.6 per cent of attendances at University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust in August took more than four hours from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge, the Reach Data Unit said. During the same month, a total of 662 patients had to wait in A&E for more than 12 hours.
However, some 42.30 per cent of patients waited more than four hours in August 2023, and 46.70 per cent in August 2022, showing a year-on-year reduction. Similarly, the number of people stuck in A&E for more than 12 hours last month was significantly lower than the peak of 1,625 in January. But, before the pandemic, no one had to wait that long.
A UHL spokesperson said: "With investment in the right areas such as protected elective capacity, theatres, robotics, digital and cancer services – alongside our continued improvements in productivity - we can accelerate our nationally leading waiting time improvements."
In recent weeks, new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has described the NHS as “broken but not beaten”, as the new data reveals the scale of the task ahead of the new government. The Prime Minister blames the previous Conservative government for "breaking" the healthcare system, and says: "People have the right to be angry".
Across England, a total of 7.62 million people were on the NHS waiting list in July this year, according to the latest data. That’s up from 2.68 million in July 2010, shortly after the Conservative-led coalition came to power.
Nationally, more than a third (37.5 per cent) of attendances at major A&Es in August took more than four hours from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. That’s down marginally from 38.6 per cent in July, and is better than the 40.9 per cent and 42.0 per cent at the same time in each of the last two years respectively.
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