the huge impact that coronavirus is
having on the nhs was made clear today
as new figures revealed just how many
people have now been waiting more than a
year
for routine hospital treatments and
operations it's at its highest level in
england for 12 years
by september almost 140 000 people have
been waiting more than a year for
non-urgent operations like
hip and knee replacements compare that
to the month before the pandemic hit in
february this year
when just over 1600 people have been
waiting that long
and it could get worse some hospitals
around the country have started to cut
back
non-urgent work even further in recent
weeks
our health editor hugh pim has more
it's another cruel consequence of covid
routine operations and procedures were
cancelled to clear hospital beds for
coronavirus patients earlier this year
that's meant long weights and increasing
pain for many other patients
and he said this isn't even up for
discussion
you need both hips replaced since last
year helen has struggled with arthritis
in her hips
she was told she needed a double
replacement and went in for a pre-op
assessment in september
but she's heard nothing since i'm in
quite a lot of pain some days are worse
than others
sometimes i go into a spasm it's just
not knowing
i don't know whether i should be walking
and i don't know whether i should be
sitting down
resting it there's just nobody telling
me
what what what i should and shouldn't do
and when it might happen
hospital leaders argue that since the
summer there has been a big increase in
the number of patients getting
non-urgent treatment
as covid pressure's eased but it's been
hard to bring down the backlog
and cope with new work coming in cancer
treatment has been affected too
partly because people might have been
worried about going into hospitals
around 888 000 patients had checks for
potential cancer between april and
september
but that's down 27 percent on the same
period last year
the number actually starting treatment
was 121
900 between april and september that's
down
22 percent nhs england says cancer
services for new patients coming forward
to their gps
and their needing treatment are back to
where they were before the covid crisis
but charities and campaigners argue that
a backlog of work has built up over the
last six months
and that has been harmful for some
patients
it's incredibly serious it's probably
the worst cancer crisis in my lifetime
and the problem is cancer doesn't wait
there's data out now saying that even
for a four week delay
you can have an up to ten percent
reduction in survival
sarah had successful treatment for colon
cancer and is in remission
but she needs restorative surgery there
have been delays and she hasn't been
told
when the next operation will happen
being left in the state of not knowing
because there isn't really anyone
to call because they're all too busy you
know someone like me
who is recovering from cancer but
you know it's not life or death you are
just left in a sort of wasteland
with sort of not knowing what's going on
because of the surge in covid cases and
admissions of more seriously ill
patients
some major hospitals are having to
postpone non-urgent surgery again
that can only mean waiting lists getting
longer and more discomfort for those
who've already faced frustration and
delays
well the latest government figures show
563 deaths were reported that's people
who died within 28 days of a positive
covid19 test
it takes the total number of deaths so
far across the uk to 50
928 and there was also a big spike in
new cases with
33 470 new coronavirus infections
recorded
in the latest 24-hour period that's a
record number
and the average number of new cases per
day in the last week is now
23 857. well
hugh is with me now that that big spike
in new cases it's thought that that was
to do with
the gap between a second lockdown being
announced and coming into force and
people just going out and about
yes sophie there are of course caveats
not to read too much into one day's
figures they are quite volatile
but public health england who compile
them for the uk
say yes these are genuine new cases that
have emerged over the last couple of
days and just been reported
and if you go back five days or a week
that's the length of time it takes
to develop symptoms and go for a test
you get back to those few days before
lockdown was imposed in england and
presumably more people
going out and about and the virus
spreading more now we'll have to see
what happens in the next few days to the
daily case numbers but
a certain percentage of these people
will become seriously ill sadly and end
up in
hospital that'll put yet more pressure
on those hospitals
needing to find beds for covered
patients and of course less capacity to
deal with routine operations
and procedures as we've been hearing and
maybe more delays
and a bigger waiting list developing
here thank you