I have dealt with Right to Health for a number of years now. The level of service has always been fantastic as have the recommendations they have made
The chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents health service trusts warned of the
“mammoth challenge”
facing the NHS after the coronavirus pandemic – and said it could take up to four years for it to provide its full range of services.
Officials said some hospitals will only be able to provide 40% of the care previously delivered. Hospitals would not be able to consistently stay within the NHS’s supposed maximum delay period of 18 weeks to deliver treatment to patients for the foreseeable future.
Group chief executive of Warwick hospital, George Eliot hospital in Nuneaton and County hospital in Hereford Glen Burley said:
‘It could be four years before waiting times get back to pre-Covid levels. We could see that. It’s certainly years, not months.’
Chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents health service trusts, Niall Dickson told The Observer: ‘With social distancing and the need for personal protective equipment it is simply not possible in many services to deliver as much care as would have been possible in the past.’
- 2.1 million patients are awaiting crucial screening for breast, cervical and bowel cancer, Cancer Research UK said at the end of May.
- Another 290,000 have missed out on urgent referrals to confirm or rule out tumours.
- At least 21,600 patients have had surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy postponed in the past nine weeks.
