4.7 Million waiting for operations in England alone

4.7 Million waiting for routine operations is a huge number and a huge increase over previous years.

The above number equates to roughly 1 in every 12 people you may meet is waiting for a routine op.

There are of course good reasons for these numbers or rather good explanations. All of our lives have been affected by the global pandemic and the NHS has had to prioritise its resources. However, that does not preclude right to access treatment where needed.

A detailed breakdown of the analysis can be seen on the BBC website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56752599

Louise Tyler, our Head of Clinical (Medical) Negligence is a member of both the Law Society Clinical Negligence Panel, AvMA (Action against Medical Accidents) Panel and has been appointed to the Executive Committee of the Society of Clinical Injury Lawyers (SCIL) and as such she is an advocate of the rights of patients. She comments:

The fall out from covid 19 in respect of other medical issues is now coming to light. There has been considerable delay in respect of diagnosis of conditions particularly cancer and delay of surgeries. One of the problems was that the messaging initially was to stay away from hospital and your GP and people did that in some cases to their detriment and when the NHS realised this the messaging changed to please attend your medical appointments and consult your Gp. It is likely that it will be possible to pursue a claim for medical negligence where there have been delays to the detriment of the patient but it will be case-specific.

If you have concerns about your treatment please contact our specialist clinical negligence team on 0800 088 6004