Almost 200,000 patients now waiting at least a year for routine NHS operations

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. As hospitals are forced to free up intensive care beds for Covid-19 patients, hundreds of cancer operations have been cancelled across London with thousands waiting over the NHS target of 62 days for urgent treatment. “This demonstrates all too clearly the relentless backlog building up as a result of the Covid-19 emergency.” NHS England said half a million more people went to their local A&E in December compared with the first peak of the pandemic in April, with the overall median wait for operations falling to just over 10 weeks. Professor Stephen Powis, NHS England medical director, said: “Despite 2020 being the year of Covid, nearly 20 million people received emergency care in England’s A&Es, while in November alone as Covid-19 was spreading more rapidly, patients still benefited from four million important elective treatments and essential checks on the NHS. “Hardworking staff have ensured that the waiting list is lower than it was at the same point last year with the average waiting time for treatment improving compared to the previous month.” He added: “These figures are a stark reminder that the NHS is facing an exceptionally tough challenge, and that while still millions of people are getting care for non-covid health problems in the NHS in England – indeed for every Covid patient in hospital, the NHS is treating three people for other conditions – there is no doubt that services will continue to be under additional pressure until and unless this virus is under control, which is why it’s so important that everyone practises social distancing and follows national guidance.”