COVID and the impact on NHS waiting lists

In a recent analysis of monthly data released by NHS England, the British Medical Association highlighted the huge pressures facing our healthcare service. Figures from December 2020 and January 2021 indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt NHS care, meaning a backlog in elective surgery such as joint replacements.

The BMA estimates that between April and December 2020, there were 2.7 million fewer elective procedures performed. The second, worse wave that we’ve witnessed since the beginning of the year, has meant that many elective procedures were cancelled again as resources were diverted to dealing with COVID hospitalisations.

Wait times are, however, increasing – the number of patients waiting over one year for treatment had risen to 153-fold its 2019 value in 2020 and this count will have risen further this year. Orthopaedic surgery has been significantly impacted by the COVID crisis. By the end of August 2020, an estimated 86,000 elective joint replacement procedures had been cancelled.

Surgical procedures to treat foot and ankle arthritis typically have a profound impact on quality of life. Delaying surgery can lead to a deterioration of physical and mental health, which is why many patients are choosing to fund their procedures themselves. Self-pay has become an increasingly significant part of the private healthcare market, with adults in the UK spending about 1.7bn a year on treatments.