Waiting times survey results published
09 Jan 2020
Thank you to those who completed our waiting times survey. This explored the various reasons behind rising waiting times for elective surgery, to obtain an up to date picture of what was happening across the UK in November 2019.
Today, as NHS England publish their waiting time statistics for November, we publish the survey results for England. 421 surgeons responded in England, providing valuable in
sight into what was happening in NHS hospitals:
- Nearly four in ten (37.16%) said they had to undertake more complex surgery due to patients being on a waiting list for an extended period, including for more advanced cancers.
- Nearly eight in ten (77.05%) said there were staff in their trust unable to operate because there were not enough beds to admit patients.
- Nearly half (46.42%) did not start their most operating list on time.
- Nearly six in ten (58.38%) had to cancel operations at the last minute (i.e. on the day of the patient’s operation).
Your responses will inform our conversations with government, NHS England and other stakeholders, as we build support for tackling the problem of lengthening waits.
In the next few weeks, we will share the survey results from those based in Northern Ireland.
If you have any queries, please contact pressoffice@rcseng.ac.uk