NHS spending cuts mean patients will wait EVEN LONGER for routine operations like hip and knee surgery, report warns

PATIENTS will have to wait longer for routine operations with nearly half of NHS bosses slashing spending, a report warns.

It means tens of thousands will face greater delays for procedures such as hip and knee surgery.

A poll of NHS finance directors by health think tank The King’s Fund reveals 42 per cent are considering cutting back on non-critical treatment due to cash constraints.

It comes after NHS supremo Simon Stevens said delays for non-emergency care are set to grow over the next two years.

Under NHS targets, at least 92 per cent of patients should get routine hospital treatment within 18 weeks.

But by the end of last year, only 89.7 per cent were seen within time, the lowest performance since 2011.

Over 362,000 patients were waiting longer than the target in March – up 64,000 in just 12 months.

Richard Murray, Director of Policy for The King’s Fund, said: “Our findings suggest waiting times for non-urgent treatment will drift out, which means greater delays for patients.

“While this may help finances in the short-term, it will not save money in the long run as the operations will have to happen in the end.”

And just half of local health bodes – known as clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) – were confident they could meet national targets to boost mental health spending.

Janet Davies, head of the Royal College of Nursing, said the findings were a “wake-up call”.

She said: “It cannot be fair that patients in half of England will wait longer for certain operations, many in pain and discomfort, as the NHS cuts costs.

“Some patients won’t get treatment at all as the postcode lottery in care is entrenched.

“Promises to increase mental health spending risk being broken while hospitals feel forced to sell-off land just to stay afloat.”

And Dr Mark Porter, head of the British Medical Association, said: “The NHS is now in a position where it has to put off spending because the money has run out, leaving patients waiting in pain and uncertainty.

“This is a disgraceful failure of our patients – financial targets shouldn’t take priority over the need to provide safe and high quality care to those in need.

“Our health and social care systems can no longer cope without urgent action.”

According to the Health Foundation, Labour have pledging an extra £7 billion NHS cash by the end of the decade.

The Lib Dems have promised an additional £5 billion, while the Conservatives will give £2 billion more.

Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: “These deeply alarming figures show the NHS is not safe in Conservative hands.

“Spending will be cut, treatments will be reduced and mental health care will be slashed.

“The Liberal Democrats would put a penny on income tax to give health and social care the funding they need.”

And Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “Tory underfunding means people will be waiting longer in pain for treatments they should get now.

“Only Labour are offering the NHS the money it needs to provide the best possible quality of service for patients in every part of the country.”