Leaked stats reveal 7,000 year-long waiters at major trust

Almost 7,000 patients have waited for treatment for a year or more at a major north London trust, according to NHS data seen by HSJ.

Royal Free Foundation Trust had 6,875 patients waiting 52 weeks or more, as of 26 July, according to a leaked document. It stopped reporting its elective waiting list to the centre in February 2019, citing concerns over accuracy. In a statement, it said these concerns continue.

But the document suggests the Royal Free accounted for around a third of the 20,000 year-long waiters across London at the end of July.

Minutes from the May meeting of the trust board’s quality, finance and compliance committee acknowledged “there was now a large number of RTT 52 week waiters on the trust patient tracking list… due to much of the elective work having been cancelled during covid-19, and these numbers were growing”.

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Source: HSJ, 18 August 2020