York hospital: '7,000 face 12-month wait for treatment'

High-risk patients, such as people diagnosed with cancer, are seen first, Dr Andrew Lee said

About 7,000 people may have to wait more than a year for hospital treatment in York due to the impact of Covid-19, the city council has been told.

Patients needing non-urgent procedures, including surgery, are expected to face a wait of 12 months or longer.

Dr Andrew Lee, from Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group, told a council meeting that doctors are prioritising who to operate on first.

York Hospital has apologised for the delay while it restores its services.

High-risk patients, such as people diagnosed with cancer, are seen first.

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But Dr Lee said the number of patients having to wait longer than a year has risen.

"In the city we are forecasting by March next year the long waiters to be probably close to seven thousand," he said.

"The hospital has gone through the backlog of all referrals and they have been clinically risk assessed.

"They've prioritised the high-risk people to be seen first and unfortunately for those whose conditions were not seen to be life-threatening, they were put on a lower priority list which would mean that they would be facing much longer waiting lists."

Nationally, more than two million people requiring a routine operation have been waiting more than 18 weeks, the highest since records began in 2007.

The NHS said 83,000 have waited more than a year, up from 2,000 before the pandemic.

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York Hospital patient Howard Kinder told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he was initially referred for a cataract operation in both eyes in January.

His treatment has been delayed three times and is now scheduled for December but he expects it to be delayed further.

"My optician stipulated to the hospital the operations were required at the earliest opportunity and I was hoping by now to have had them," he said.

"The only other option I have is to go private, but at what cost?

"[It is] extremely frustrating after paying into the system for 40 years with little back in return."

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