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MORE than a million hospital appointments were cancelled due to last winter’s Covid wave.
Now, medics warn “everything possible” must be done to stop widespread postponements this year.
January was the worst affected month with 144,000 cancellations at 37 hospitals[/caption]
The impact on eye and heart clinics meant thousands suffered failing vision or worsening heart disease due to axed operations.
England’s major hospitals each scrapped or rescheduled an average of nearly 9,000 outpatient appointments from September 2020 to March 2021 due to Covid-related reasons, figures show.
Across the 116 biggest NHS trusts the figure stretched to 1.01m – before including smaller hospitals and mental health clinics.
January, at the height of the UK’s second major lockdown, was the worst affected month with 144,000 cancellations at 37 hospitals that gave full figures – 3,900 each.
Labour’s shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said: “We need a plan from ministers to ensure the NHS is able to deliver vital treatment and cancelled operations on this scale never happen again.
“Patients are facing a winter of misery as the NHS struggles to cope.”
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At the time the NHS saw 100,000 patients admitted with Covid as Britain battled record high infection rates.
Ophthalmology and cardiology clinics were among the worst hit, meaning many patients with serious eye and heart problems were stuck at home without help.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Treatments like heart surgery aren’t a luxury.
“Long waits for heart disease care can put lives at risk and increase the chance of avoidable heart failure or missing the window of opportunity for successful treatment.
“Everything possible must be done to avoid cancellations of routine care this winter.”
Optegra Eye Hospitals has taken on growing numbers of NHS patients as the health service’s own clinics struggle to cope with demand.
Medical director and surgeon Mr Amir Hamid said: “The longer the delays, the worse people’s vision becomes.
“It is vital that clinics are open and that patients have the confidence to make use of them.”
The figures come as the waiting list for NHS surgery rose again last week to a record 5.7million as A&E and cancer clinic waits got longer.
An NHS spokesperson said: “In January alone, the NHS admitted more than 100,000 Covid-19 patients which inevitably had a knock-on effect on some non-urgent care.
“However, thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, 50million people attended outpatient appointments between September and March, while the amount of time people are waiting for routine treatment has halved since last summer.”
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