Nearly 200,000 patients every month now wait over 18 weeks for surgery as hospitals struggle to meet demand

Close to 200,000 patients every month are having to endure increasingly long waits for operations, a new study has revealed.

The Royal College of Surgeons has found that in 2016, an average of 193,406 people a month didn't get surgery within 18 weeks of being referred.

The study is the latest evidence of the NHS's failure to meet waiting time targets, as hospitals are too busy to cope with the number of people who need treatment.

2016 was the NHS's worst performance for surgery waiting times since 2008. In 2015, 139,240 patients per month had to wait over 18 weeks for their operation, which in 2012 the figure was 105,427.

Royal College of Surgeons VP Ian Eardley said the huge increase in the number of patients suffering these longer wait times showed the NHS had passed a tipping point.

“We are now struggling to meet the standards and timeliness of care that the public rightly expect,” he said.

“Waiting longer creates prolonged pain, uncertainty and immobility for patients and is stressful for them and their families, especially those who may be very ill or in significant pain.

“Many of these patients are older and in the most serious cases, such as heart or cancer surgery, waiting longer could have a big effect on the quality of someone’s life and their eventual recovery from surgery.”

In October 2016, there were 52,816 patients who had already waited over 18 weeks for trauma and orthopaedic surgery. An additional 33,547 were waiting for general surgery, while 24,578 were waiting for a procedure to improve their sight.

The biggest increases were in ear, nose and throat surgery, up 124% since 2012-13, and neurosurgery, which had seen a 109% increase in the same time-frame.

Eardley added that surgery delays would most likely worsen given pressures on hospitals and the widespread problem of bed shortages.

“There is no sign of waiting times reducing any time soon and they are very likely to have become worse this winter,” he said.

“The key question is: how much longer will patients have to wait before the government steps in to relieve the pressure?”

59% of patients waiting for neurosurgery at Plymouth NHS trust had been waiting for over 18 weeks in October 2016. 48% of patients waiting for oral surgery in Walsall and 44% in South Manchester had also been waiting for longer than 18 weeks.

It emerged on Friday that 65 of 152 acute NHS trusts had been forced to declare an alert during the first week of January because they were experiencing severe difficulties caused by insufficient bed space for the patients who needed it.

Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth said he hoped the NHS's poor performance would not lead the government to abandon standards.

He said: “We already know ministers want to water down the A&E target. Given this more widespread deterioration in waiting times, I hope this won’t lead to ministers abandoning other standards too.”