Health
Covid: 4.6 million people missed hospital treatment in the UK in 2020 | NHS
Over 4.5 million missed hospital treatment England Last year, the NHS turmoil caused by Covid increased the number of people turning to crowdfunding to pay for cancer medications and surgery.
The number of patients planning surgery, such as joint replacement, plummeted from 16.62 million in 2019 to just under 12 million last year, down 4.64 million. This is an analysis of the activities of NHS Hospital. health The Foundation reveals.
The fall was mainly caused by the hospital shutting down many of its usual services due to the focus on the influx of people seriously ill with the coronavirus. Makeshift intensive care unit Surgical staff have been diverted to fight the pandemic.
At the same time, the GP introduced 6 million fewer people to undergo diagnostic tests and treatment in hospitals as a result of interruptions in care. Patients hesitate to go to the hospital if they catch Covid and want not to increase the overstretched pressure. NHS.. They referred 14 million patients in 2020, compared to 20 million in 2019.
With millions of “missing patients” created and the pandemic alleviated, if three-quarters of those people seek treatment late, the entire NHS waiting list will reach a record high of 4.6 million. It could surge to 9.7 million by 2024. Foundation quote.
Data collected by the website GoFundMe shows that more and more people are turning to crowdfunding to fund emergency healthcare to combat NHS care delays, clinical trial cancellations, and long waiting lists. is showing.
The number of people seeking public donations because of a “waiting list” increased by 87% from last year to this year, referring to “clinical trials” (medical research aimed at finding better treatments). The number of people was high and was interrupted during the pandemic – increased by 60%.
Between March 2020 and February 2021, the number of people seeking public support for mentioning anti-cancer drugs surged 55%, according to GoFundMe.
Tim Gardner, Senior Policy Fellow, Health Foundation, said the combination of significant delays in care and the vast number of people waiting for care could merge into big political issues. The number of people waiting for surgery for more than a year has skyrocketed from 1,613 before the pandemic to 304,044 in January this year, with at least 6 more than 1 million, despite an estimated 92% of patients. I’m waiting for a month. Treated within 18 weeks with referral to a treatment scheme.
“The wait list is already at its highest level since the comparable record began in 2007. It is estimated that if it grows from the current 4.6 million to 9.7 million by March 2024, then the current wait list It’s more than doubled, “Gardner said. .. “These’missing millions’ can be a problem for governments. Therefore, this is to deal with the unprocessed portion of care and get the waiting time back on track, which must be seen as a decisive challenge from the present to the next general election.
“But it will take years to do that. We will hold the next election before patients in need of care will have access to the care they need within the 18-week commitment of the NHS Constitution. I think we’re looking far beyond that. The NHS staff are exhausted, so I think progress is slow to work on the backlog and get things back on track. “
Rachel Power, Chief Executive Officer of the Patients Association, said: “The disruption of NHS services brought about by the pandemic seems to have accelerated the tendency of patients to seek treatment that is inaccessible to the NHS using crowdfunding.”
“I’m particularly concerned about reports that potentially life-saving treatments have been cancelled,” she added, adding that “it’s understandable that patients are looking for other ways.” ..
The Health Foundation analyzed the number of people receiving monthly hospital treatment in 2019 and 2020. NHS found that trauma and orthopedic surgery were 712,620 times less, otolaryngology surgery was 396,107 times, and oral surgery was 205,918 times less than last year. Before.
According to the analysis, the number of people who received planned care in hospitals decreased the most in the northwest, and the number of patients who received treatment decreased from 222,741 to 154,487. This is a 31% reduction. The southwest recorded the smallest fall, but still treated 24% fewer patients.
We also found that hospital treatment interruptions were far more severe in the poorest areas of the UK than in the wealthiest areas. The number of “completed treatment routes” decreased by 9,162 per 100,000 population in the former, but decreased by 6,765 in the latter.
Sir David Nicholson, former Chief Executive Officer of the United Kingdom’s NHS, said: In an interview with the Guardian The scale of the care backlog faced by the NHS last week was already “really horrifying,” and the delay could be detrimental to the patient’s health.
Health Foundation findings come a few days after the new one Voting by Ipsos Mori Prior to the Covid vaccination program, we have shown that people consider “improving the waiting time for daily work” to be the most important challenge facing the NHS.