NHS waiting times have hit an all-time high as 7.75 million people were awaiting treatment at the end of August.
This record-breaking figure arose despite plans to eliminate waits were one of Rishi Sunak’s priorities.
NHS England and the Government were determined to eliminate all waits exceeding 18 months by April of this year, excluding more difficult cases and patients who decide to wait a bit longer. But as of the end of August, approximately 397,000 people waited longer than 52 weeks to begin routine hospital appointments being slightly higher than July where almost 390,00 people were waiting.
Doctor strikes have been blamed for the ongoing delays while they protest for increased pay and better working conditions, despite figures of successfully delivering treatment beat those of statistics before Covid.
Ambulance services were also busy throughout September receiving 828,000 calls, including almost 80,00 callouts for category one emergencies.
In Kent, around 180,000 people are on waiting lists across the four major hospital trusts and Medway has an average waiting time is 11.2 weeks. However only 66 percent of people have waited below the targeted 18-week appointment period.
David Newell from Gillingham said “I’m 22 weeks into a 38-week waiting list for a lung clinic, and 26 weeks into a 58-week waiting list for a dental extraction at Medway hospital. I was referred to East Ginsread who referred me back to Medway.”
Christine Hurry also from Gillingham expressed that “an elderly relative was in A&E at the Medway last week for five hours, discharged at 1am and lives alone after having waited four hours for a paramedic. [She couldn’t] get through to the GP on the phone this week let alone get an appointment.”
NHS Kent and Medway have been approached for a statement but we’re yet to hear from them.
With winter round the corner, the virtual ward scheme may be a necessity to reduce overcrowding and even longer waiting times in hospitals.
NHS England delivered on their aim of 10,000 virtual wards at the end of last month.
Over 240,000 patients were treated using the NHS’ latest technology, freeing up bed space and allowing patients to receive care from the comfort of their homes.
By using remote monitoring technology, patients can be reviewed daily through medical devices that observe one’s condition relaying information back to clinical staff.
A recovery plan has been set in place to enable that 75% of people going to A&E can be discharged within four hours of being admitted and this target is set to be reached by March of next year.