Chesterfield Royal Hospital patients waiting 13 weeks for treatment

Patients were waiting an average of 13 weeks for routine treatment at Chesterfield Royal Hospital in February, latest NHS figures show.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The King's Fund think tank said another national record for the number of people on hospital waiting lists shows the strain on the NHS is reaching “unacceptable levels”.

NHS England figures show the median waiting time for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was 13 weeks at the end of February – the same as in January.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, this was shorter than the average 15-week wait a year previously.

NHS England figures show the median waiting time for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was 13 weeks at the end of February – the same as in January.NHS England figures show the median waiting time for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was 13 weeks at the end of February – the same as in January.
NHS England figures show the median waiting time for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was 13 weeks at the end of February – the same as in January.

There were 20,713 patients on the waiting list in February – up from 20,343 in January, and 17,964 in February 2021.

Of those, 1,060 had been waiting for longer than one year.

The hospital has been urging the public to stay away from its emergency department except for in "genuine, life-threatening situations" so it can “prioritise the most poorly patients.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Nationally, 6.2 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of February.

This is up from 6.1 million in January and the highest number since records began in August 2007.

But the figures also show that while the overall waiting list has continued to grow, the number of people waiting more than a year and two years have both fallen.

Read More
Surge in patients visiting A&E at Chesterfield Royal Hospital

Danielle Jefferies, analyst at The King’s Fund, said the latest national figures show pressures are now reaching “unacceptable levels” in all parts of the health and care system.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She added: “A&E departments remain full of patients in need of urgent care, and separate data shows a similar story in general practice and social care.”

Separate figures show 1.5 million patients in England were waiting for a key diagnostic test in February – the same as in January.

At Chesterfield Royal Hospital, 6,880 patients were waiting for one of 11 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 1,662 (24%) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that there are 20,000 medically-fit patients who cannot be discharged due to pressures on social care."

“Trusts are also grappling with the ongoing impact of Covid-19," he added.

"That’s meant more patients with Covid-19 in hospital beds, more staff off work with Covid-19, and more delayed discharges than anyone was expecting or had predicted.”

Other figures from NHS England show that of 73 patients urgently referred at Chesterfield Royal Hospital in February, 50 received cancer treatment within two months.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A month previously – when 88 patients were referred – 59 were treated within 62 days.

In February 2021, 51 patients were treated within this period, out of 75 that were referred.

NHS England national medical director Professor Stephen Powis said: “Nobody should be under any illusion about how tough a job NHS staff have on their hands, balancing competing priorities and maintaining high quality patient care.

“Despite pressure on various fronts and the busiest winter ever for the NHS, long waits fell as staff continue to tackle two-year waits by July thanks to the innovative approaches to care they are now adopting."