Patients getting sicker as they face long waits for NHS care, says top GP

Patients are developing cancers and enduring so much pain that they cannot climb stairs because of the 7.2 million-strong waiting list for NHS scans and treatment, Britain’s top GP has said.

Prof Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, said the record delays for care and the uncertainty for patients about when they would finally be seen was leaving people feeling “helpless and forgotten”.

These included people with heart problems, those awaiting a hip or knee replacement, and people with potential signs of cancer whom GPs have said need to be seen urgently, she said.

In an interview with the Guardian, she voiced serious concern that some of these patients saw their health deteriorate as a direct result of the delay in accessing hospital care.

“Patients getting sicker while they are on the waiting list is something GPs see and worry about, because the risk to the patient is so much greater. It’s inevitable that some people stuck will get sicker, because that’s the nature of illness,” she said.

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Source: The Guardian, 7 May 2023