One in three surgeons say they STILL can’t restart routine operations and blame the hold-up on a lack of same-day Covid-19 test results for patients
- Officials fear 10million people could be stuck on waiting lists by end of the year
- Hospitals cancelled ops and turfed out patients to make way for a Covid surge
- But one in three surgeons say they are still unable to restart routine operations
- The Royal College of Surgeons said the hold-up was the lack of same-day testing
Surgeons have today called for same-day coronavirus testing so hospitals can start clearing the backlog of NHS operations.
Health bosses fear up to 10million people could be stuck on NHS waiting lists by the end of the year due to Covid-19 hold-ups.
Officials urged hospitals to cancel ops and turf out patients to make way for a surge in virus cases, when they realised the outbreak was spiralling out of control.
But one in three surgeons say they are still unable to restart routine ops, such as hip and knee replacements — despite pressure to resume normal services.
Professor Derek Alderson, president of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), said the biggest hold-up was the lack of same-day testing.
Health bosses fear up to 10million people could be stuck on NHS waiting lists by the end of the year due to Covid-19 hold-ups
He said: ‘We have a window of opportunity this summer, before a potential second wave or the arrival of flu in the autumn.
‘If we don’t get organised now, then tens of thousands of people will be waiting until next year for an essential operation.
‘Part of getting this country back to work is finding a way safely to treat those patients who are off work because of a health condition.
‘We know that a joint replacement can enable someone to go back to work, so it’s both a duty for us as doctors to help address their pain, and key to both that individual’s wellbeing and wellbeing of the country.’
The RCS — which represents 25,000 surgeons across the UK — carried out a survey that found swathes have still yet to get back up-and-running normally.
Only two fifths of the 1,741 surgeons quizzed revealed they were able to get Covid-19 test results back within 24 hours.
A third (34 per cent) claimed that it took between one and two days. The remaining 13 per cent said they had to wait up to 72 hours.
Returning Covid-19 test results quickly is a ‘crucial factor’ in enabling more elective surgery to take place safely, experts say.
Professor Alderson said same-day results would allow patients to be tested before and on admission, and again when they are discharged.
Testing was not the only barrier surgeons cited — others included a lack of staff and diagnostic capacity, the RCS poll revealed.
The RCS said ‘Covid-light sites’ should now be considered to improve patient safety. The sites would allow for regular coronavirus testing and enhanced cleaning to allow surgery to continue.
Around 2million routine ops were cancelled from April 15 for at least three months in a desperate effort to free up hospital beds for Covid-19 patients.
It stopped hospitals from being overwhelmed but fuelled a waiting list crisis that was already plaguing the health service well before the pandemic.
Last August there were a record 4.41million patients in England waiting for routine operations, a rise of 250,000 from the same month a year earlier.
But that number is expected to more than double because of a backlog triggered by the Covid-19 crisis, according to NHS projections.
Bosses behind the projection said a best case scenario could see 8million people waiting for treatment, if a vaccine or therapy comes along before then.