Some patients in Peterborough have been waiting up to 104 weeks for an operation after post-pandemic wave

Patients in Cambridgeshire have been waiting as much as 52-weeks for an operation, with some very extreme cases waiting as long as 104 weeks.

That was the message given to the members of the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee of Peterborough City Council on 18 July.

Medics are now hoping by the end of July 2022 only a handful of patients will have waited for 104-weeks or more

Kate Hopcroft, director of Planned Care for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS said after the pandemic, hospitals are treating more patients than ever before.

‘Reducing waiting times’

She said: “After each wave of the pandemic, hospital staff and community healthcare officials have stepped up their response to those needs in an effort to bring waiting times down, but a lot of other factors have played into that and how affected NHS staff get as they try to find ways back into a ‘normal’ non-COVID schedule, such as infection control and safety of patients.

“The net result of this has been some very lengthy waits for some patients across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, with some having to wait over two years for an operation at present which is obviously unacceptable.

“A huge amount of work is now being put into reducing those waiting times so that by the end of July 2022 only a handful of patients will have waited for 104-weeks or more and that will be for personal or clinical reasons, and we are confident that we can bring those times down over the next few months.”

In September 2021, the Referral To Treatment (RTT) waiting list at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust (NWAFT) included 59,548 people and as of May 2022 had risen by approx. 8.6 per cent to 64,647.

The number of patients waiting over 104 weeks peaked in February 2022, but these have been steadily treated so by the end of June 2022, NWAFT had a maximum of 10 patients waiting for treatment over 2 years.

Six are ‘capacity-related’, and the remainder are either clinical or patient choice delays.

The Trust are forecasting that all 104 week waiting patients will have been seen or treated by the end of July 2022.

‘Passionate’ about reducing times

Janine Nethercliffe, urological surgeon with NWAFT, added: “Obviously between COVID and global warming we’ve faced quite a lot of challenges at NWAFT of late – but we can assure the members that we are passionate about getting these waiting list numbers down.

“In addition to focusing on the very long waiting patients NWAFT has continued to put plans in place such as outpatient follow-ups, virtual consultations, pathway re-designs to support patients as they recover, operating theatre utilisation improving efficiencies – all of which are designed to reduce the overall waiting times which vary according to specialties, some experiencing longer delays then others.

“The most challenged specialities for NWAFT are Ear, Nose and Throat, Urology, and Ophthalmology with a combination of issues having impacted on these specialties including workforce, infection control measures and increases in demand, both in routine and cancer referrals for Urology and ENT. Ophthalmology and Urology were also in a challenged position pre-pandemic so the reduction in activity during each wave has compounded the issue.

“Other specialties including General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Trauma and Orthopaedics and Gastroenterology all of which have patients waiting between 26 and 52 weeks, but as will all our long-term waits we are focussed on reducing these as quickly as possible and our efforts at the current time show this to be working.”

Members of the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee noted they had given consideration the information and looked forward to further updates on reduced waiting times at their next meeting on 27, September 2022.