People living in poorer parts of England face worse service from the NHS, new research suggests.
A watchdog has told the health service to make sure patients get ‘interim support’ while tackling the record backlog of care which built up during the pandemic.
The Kings Fund health think tank found that there were longer wait times for routine NHS care in more economically deprived parts of the country.
People waiting for common treatments such as knee or hip replacements, and cataract surgery have described the pain and mental strain of delayed treatment.
Leading NHS figures and health observers have regularly raised fears that inequalities across healthcare have deepened significantly amid the Covid-19 crisis.
Despite the efforts of NHS staff during the pandemic, the backlog has grown to 5.61 million people – almost one in every 10 people in England.
The Kings Fund, sharing its analysis with the PA news agency and Panorama, suggests people living in England’s most deprived areas are 1.8 times as likely to experience a wait of over one year for hospital care compared with people from the most affluent.
Seven per cent of patients on waiting lists in the most deprived areas of the country have been waiting a year or more for treatment compared with 4% of those in the least deprived.
And waiting lists appear to be growing faster in the poorest regions.
From April 2020 to July 2021, they have increased by 55% on average in the most deprived parts of the country compared with 36% in the richest areas.
The analysis comes as a poll from health and social care champion Healthwatch England highlighted the toll waiting times are having on people’s physical and mental health.
A survey of 1,600 people who were either on a waiting list or had a loved one in need of treatment, found that 54% said it was affecting their mental health while 57% said the wait was affecting their physical health.
And 48% did not receive any support to manage their condition during their wait.
Almost one in five (18%) have already gone private for treatment or are considering it, but 47% said that paying for private treatment ‘was not an option’.
Healthwatch England called for improved communication with people on the waiting list, as well as other recommendations, including the ‘interim support’, such as physiotherapy, pain relief and mental health support.
Sir Robert Francis, chair of Healthwatch England, said: ‘NHS England must manage waiting lists better by reducing the risks and inconvenience to patients caused by delays to care, as part of the national action to reduce the backlog.
‘People need clear and individualised information from the NHS, such as what the next steps for their treatment or care will be and how long they can expect to wait. They also need to have easy ways to update the NHS about changes in their condition.’
He continued: ‘As millions continue to wait for treatment, we can take steps to give people confidence they haven’t been forgotten, which is critical when you’ve been suffering in silence for months.’
Among those who faced longer waiting times were former nurse Sybil Williams, 86, who said she felt suicidal while waiting 17 months for her hip replacement; Stephen Wischhusen, 74, who was told in June that he needed an urgent operation to have a stone in his right kidney removed and Toby Salt, 42, who felt ‘abandoned’ after waiting for more than 18 months for help with his arthritis.
Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at The King’s Fund, added: ‘The pandemic has pushed NHS waiting lists to record levels and laid bare the deep health inequalities in our country.
‘It is not a surprise that waits for NHS care vary across the country but the fact that patients in deprived areas are nearly twice as likely to wait a year or more for planned treatment should be a wake-up call for a government that has committed to levelling up the country, and ring alarm bells for MPs in “red wall” constituencies.
‘The Government’s forthcoming plan to tackle the backlog of care must include a strong focus on tackling health inequalities and avoid a one-size fits all approach, otherwise there is a real risk that patients from our most deprived communities will continue to wait the longest for the treatment they need.’
An NHS spokesperson said: ‘While the pandemic inevitably had an impact on non-urgent care, NHS staff made effective use of additional resource – almost halving average waiting times for elective care over the last year.
‘Expert clinicians continue to prioritise patients with the greatest clinical need and hospitals should ensure that a point of contact is available to those waiting for treatment, including through Patient Advice and Liaison Services.’
The research will feature on Monday’s BBC One Panorama show at 7.35pm.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE : More people are turning to private healthcare – so should we be worried about the future of the NHS?