Over 800 patients wait 65 weeks for treatment as NUH remains under pressure on elective services

Nottingham University Hospitals are facing significant pressure as they try to balance the demands of emergency and elective services, according to the Chief Executive’s report ahead of this week’s board meeting.

Chief Exec Anthony May laid out the situation in his report on operational performance which will be part of the board meeting on 9 November.

The detail is below:

The elective programme has continued to reduce the long wait backlogs, treating patients in clinical priority order.

Industrial action has impacted the number of patients waiting more than 78 weeks for their treatment. At the end of September there were 63 patients waiting more than 78 weeks for their treatment.

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There were zero patients waiting more than 104 weeks. There were 821 patients waiting over 65 weeks at the end of September, which is a deterioration in our position, and we remain behind our planned trajectory for the year.

We are currently forecasting an improved position in October for both 78 and 65 week wait positions. Potential further industrial action during the winter will impact on our capacity to achieve our elective activity plans.

Cancer referral demand remains high. Urgent cancer 2 week wait referrals have deteriorated due to the ongoing impact of industrial action, seasonal leave, and workforce operational pressures.

These pressures have led to the 62-day cancer backlog remaining stable, despite increased referrals. The Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) has also been challenged, with a strong correlation between the first outpatient appointment (OPA) deteriorating position and the under achievement of FDS which was 72.5% in August.

The target will not be achieved in September, but a full recovery is expected for October. The new cancer waiting times combined standards will be applied in NUH’s October data submission, but NHSE will continue to monitor the 62- day backlog based on the previous standards for the 62-day backlog, which is 233 by the end of March 2024.

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