More than 400,000 people in Greater Manchester are now waiting for NHS treatment amid years of pandemic delays - even before electives were cancelled for weeks in the region.
At the end of December 2021, 407,847 people were on waiting lists, according to the latest figures published by Greater Manchester's NHS trusts.
More than 26,000 of those patients have been waiting more than a year for their care, and one in three patients are waiting longer than 18 weeks - the NHS target for treatment.
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But the latest figures form only part of the story as it now stands in Greater Manchester.
In January, almost all elective procedures and 'non-urgent' appointments were cancelled as the Omicron wave took hold.
NHS staff absence shot up to 15 per cent as medics and administrators alike went off with Covid-19, or had to isolate.
The region's health bosses were forced to cancel all but emergency treatments to keep the health service afloat.
After just over two weeks, electives were reinstated, but the number of patients on waiting lists is now understood to be even higher than the 400,000 figure for the end of December.
In January, in the midst of sweeping cancellations of ‘non-urgent’ appointments and surgeries, the Manchester Evening News spoke to three patients who had been awaiting treatment for months on end.
They were left disappointed, once again, in the wake of the news that electives had been paused once more, and say they felt they had been left in the dark about when or if their procedures would be going ahead any time soon.
One month on, the M.E.N. caught up with the three patients. Only one of the three has had the treatment they were each desperately needing.
Suffering with chronic, severe bouts of tonsillitis leaving him bed-bound roughly every six weeks, John Ezard, from Middleton, had been hoping to finally have them removed for more than two years.
He was given two operation dates, first in October 2020, then again in November 2021, but neither worked out.
In November, John actually arrived at hospital for his operation, but discovered that his Covid test, which was needed to start the surgery, never reached the lab it was sent to.
“I was quite apprehensive to have it just before Christmas because you don't really want to be sore then. But I wanted to do it anyway, I prepared myself,” he told the M.E.N.
“I had to move things around because I’m working and at university as well. I did shifts beforehand to make up the hours I would miss through recovery.
“I did a Covid swab and then isolated for three days. I got to hospital, went through my medical history to make sure we could go ahead with the operation.
“A member of staff asked me if I’d had my Covid swab, I told them I had come in for it on the Monday.
"Then another staff member came in and told me, ‘we’re really sorry, the lab we send our Covid swabs to has not received yours, you haven’t got a result so we’ll have to cancel your procedure.
"It was quite frustrating."
Finally, on January 26, he was able to get his surgery and has now made a full recovery.
“This time, they sent the Covid swab off to their laboratory to prevent my swab disappearing again!”
But the two other patients interviewed have not been so lucky.
In September of 2020, Jennifer from Skelmersdale was rushed to hospital with severe abdominal pain, passing out and vomiting. Doctors discovered that she had a huge ovarian cyst, needing surgery at a hospital in Greater Manchester.
Not only would she go on to be in physical agony, unable to put on her socks without help, forced to stop working - she would be left with the emotionally exhausting anxiety of not knowing when it will end, and if she will ever have the family she wishes for.
In the time she has been waiting for treatment, the agonising cyst has grown by 4cm to 24cm as of her last checkup in July 2021 - which she paid for privately because it had been such a long time since her last NHS appointment.
“It’s urgent for me,” she said in January. “I don’t know how much damage it’s doing the longer it is left, I don’t know how much they’ll have to remove.
"They don’t know what the cyst is attached to, what’s in it, no one has seen it.
"They can’t guarantee it’s not anything sinister until it’s out and has been bi-opsied, so I don’t even know what it is yet. All I know is that it’s a cystic mass.”
In October, Jennifer finally had a pre-operative appointment and received a date for her surgery. She quickly informed family and friends who had spent months comforting her through a distressing time.
Just three hours later, she says she received a call from the hospital to cancel the surgery. It was a crushing blow.
Right now, 28-year-old Jennifer is still waiting.
“I have called a few times since [January] but no progress yet,” she tells the M.E.N.
“They still can’t give me any idea at all of when it might be.
“One minute I feel like I’m coming to terms with it, this is just how it is, and the next I feel so let down, angry and upset.”
Much like Jennifer, Scott Tulloch has been waiting for surgery on his slipped disc since October 2020, which he suffered while working at a church-run food bank.
The 48-year-old also had a pre-op in October, but after that… nothing.
“There’s severe nerve damage all the way down my left leg to my toes,” he explained in January.
"We don’t know whether that is going to be healed by the operation.
“It’s my back, but the pain that’s worse is the nerve pain.
"It shoots all the way down my left side. It’s a stabbing, sharp pain. I struggle to bend over, my mobility and movement is really restricted.
“Last Christmas I could hardly walk, I was on my hands and knees some days. Terrible pain.”
And now? “No news, I’m afraid,” he says. “Still in limbo.”
All the while, these patients continue to be in pain, and their painkiller prescriptions climb.
The NHS says there is a ‘national drive to recover services and reduce waiting lists that have built up as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic’, admitting that the virus has had a ‘disproportionate impact’ on the North West.
Dr David Levy, the regional medical director for the NHS, said: “We know the pandemic had a disproportionate impact on the North West.
“We entered the pandemic from a challenging starting point, with the worst life expectancy in England, and some of the greatest health inequalities.
“We were also already seeing significant increases in the demand for our health services with A&E attendances rising markedly year-on-year, as well as increases in demand for GP appointments, cancer referrals, and mental health admissions.
“We have some promising initiatives across the North West, with £210 million investment in capital projects over the next three years, which will have an impact. Our teams are doing all they can to increase capacity to treat more people than ever before.”
Dr Levy’s words follow the NHS and government’s joint elective recovery plan, issued last week.
The plan have sets out a blueprint to address backlogs, promising expansion in capacity for tests, checks and treatments - attempting to ‘give patients greater control over their own health and offer greater choice of where to get care if they are waiting too long for treatment’.
For example, the NHS is planning to increase its capacity to deliver more procedures and scans in each of the next three years, to around nine million more tests and checks by 2025.
The plan says diagnostic surgical hubs are being developed and will have capacity to treat 8,000 local patients with a range of conditions.
Dr Sinead Clarke is the Strategic Clinical Lead for this scheme and a GP by background. She said: “These hubs will enable our clinicians to treat patients who have been waiting over a year for elective surgery, which is great for our local population”.
Dr Levy added: “As we move out of the Omicron wave the NHS staff are applying the same determination we have displayed throughout the pandemic, to address backlogs in routine care that have inevitably built up, and reduce long waits.
“That cannot happen overnight but we are determined to make the best possible use of the additional investment and take the best from our pandemic response, including smarter use of digital care and flexible working between teams and trusts, while building this additional diagnostic capacity that will help to accelerate progress.
“As we have always said throughout the pandemic, it is vitally important that anybody who has health needs continues to come forward, so that staff can help you with the best options for your care.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We have invested £530 million to expand GP capacity during the pandemic. There are over 1,600 more full time equivalent doctors working in general practice compared to this time in 2019 and a record-breaking number started training as GPs last year.
“Our Covid Backlog Recovery Plan will help the NHS reduce waiting times, give patients more control over their care, and harness innovative technology to free up staff time so more people up and down the country can get the treatment they need.”
However, fears remain among NHS medics that without a host of other plans, including an achievable strategy to tackle major workforce gaps in order to staff diagnostic hubs and perform procedures, long waits are set to continue for years to come.
A Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership spokesperson, said: “Although, it is reassuring that the situation across health and care in Greater Manchester feels more manageable, it’s also true to say that we have unfortunately got used to working with persistent heightened pressures and we are mindful of the impact on staff well-being.
“Reducing delayed discharges and the number of people in our hospitals with no reason to reside is a key priority and steps continue to be taken to make improvements happen.
“We know that we have a challenging period ahead as we try to work though the elective waiting list, address long waits and respond to new demand. Increasing capacity is vital and we have a detailed plan to hopefully achieve pre-pandemic waiting list levels.
“If you are currently waiting, you may find it useful to visit whileyouwait.org.uk. Here you will find some information and advice on how best to look after your mental and physical health during this time.”
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