NHS waiting lists in England have been a concern throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. At one point, some 5.3 million people were waiting for routine operations and procedures in England and could increase further. However, once all curbs are removed, progress is expected to be made with the backlog. It’s easy to see that these waiting lists will soon become a health priority. However, the waiting list is expected to get a lot worse before it gets better
Among the solutions, would be to pay private healthcare providers to continue to treat NHS patients, and to keep virtual doctors’ appointments, the health secretary, Sajid Javid has said. Covid-19 infections have fluctuated for months and concern remains around hospital admissions. A big wave of cases could cripple essential services but despite dire warnings, the NHS has so far performed well.
However, any misapprehension that life should return to normal and that we can all throw away all the precautions could be dangerous. A few hospitals in the UK have regularly had to postpone non-urgent surgery because of rising admissions of Covid patients, very high patient numbers at A&E, and staff self-isolating.
However, the link between Covid, hospitalisation and death has been weakened by the vaccine rollout, with admissions to hospital and deaths remaining below the levels seen last winter. Being fully vaccinated reduces the risk of symptomatic Covid-19 by about 90%, and hospitalisation by up to 94%, depending on the jab. Vaccines are the best defence against Covid and the NHS is pushing to have everyone vaccinated. 100% coverage is the goal and the UK is performing well by global comparison. Meanwhile, experts have warned it is possible to catch two coronavirus variants at the same time after some unvaccinated patients have tested positive for more than one variant at once.