A hospital trust in Bristol has apologised after it was revealed a patient has waited almost three years for treatment.
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation (UHBW) was selected among 124 other non-specialist acute hospital trusts in England as part of a Freedom of Information request by the PA news agency. The request was made to find out how many patients have been waiting more than two years for NHS care.
It showed that more than 23,000 people in England have been waiting for more than two years for NHS care. The trusts were asked how many patients had been waiting for three years (156 weeks), then four years (208 weeks), and then the longest period a patient had been waiting for an appointment.
Also see: Dozens of patients wait three years for care due to NHS backlog
The findings confirmed no one at the UHBW Trust waited longer than three years for an appointment, with 154 weeks being the longest period a patient was waiting to start treatment after being referred. The department the patient was waiting to be seen in was Maxillofacial surgery.
In a statement, Professor Stuart Walker, medical director at UHBW Trust, said: “We would like to apologise to anyone who has been waiting for treatment. As with other hospitals across the country, the coronavirus pandemic has had a big impact on planned care.
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“We recognise how distressing it is for people who are waiting to be seen and are actively managing waiting lists with the most clinically urgent being prioritised. We are working hard to see people as soon as possible.”
NHS leaders across England have said they are doing “all they can” to dig into the backlogs, but efforts have been hampered by pressures on the emergency care system, Covid cases and high rates of staff absences on top of severe workforce shortages.
Among the other trusts selected, more than 91 patients had been waiting for at least three years, with at least eight waiting for over four years. One of these waiting for four-and-a-half years. A total of 69 trusts out of 125 replied at the time of publication.
