Six million ‘hidden’ patients could flood NHS waiting lists this year

As many as 6 million “hidden” patients could join the queue for NHS treatment in the coming months, swelling official waiting lists to records not seen for more than a decade, health chiefs have warned.

In the wake of a Budget that offered no new investment for the health service ministers must level with the public that previous guarantees on waiting times are now impossible to meet, the head of the NHS Confederation has said.

In an interview with The Independent, Danny Mortimer said some patients should expect to wait many months, or possibly even beyond a year, for their treatment.

He said: “It's going to take many years to recover the waiting list position to where we want it to be.

“We have to be realistic about the time that it will take us to address these issues, and the government have to be realistic about what it will take particularly if this week’s Budget is an indication that actually there won’t be money made available to the NHS to truly address these issues.

“The government has to take responsibility for explaining to the public what the consequences of that are.”

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Source: The Independent, 7 March 2021,