More than a million patient operations could be delayed because of widespread shortages of anaesthetists in the NHS – with 9 out of every 10 hospitals reporting at least one vacancy.
As coronavirus paralysed the NHS earlier this year, more than 140,000 NHS patients have already waited over a year for treatment.
The Health Foundation has warned that 4.7 million fewer patients have been referred for treatment because of the impact of coronavirus on NHS services.
The Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCOA) told The Independent the scale of the vacancies was getting worse and labelled it a “workforce disaster” that could cost patients’ lives and have a widespread impact on hospital services.
Source: The Independent, 22 November 2020
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