Shropshire hospital waiting list recovery could take more than two years

The impact of the Covid crisis has led to postponements for some elective surgery, and limitations on the number of operations that can be safely carried out.

Claire Skidmore, interim accountable officer at Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin CCG, said that targets for April had been met, and that it is anticipated the May target will also be met.

She said it it had been a "fabulous" effort from staff to meet the targets, but added: "We do not underestimate the scale of the task at hand, we have got a huge waiting list."

Ms Skidmore said that it could take two years to reduce the backlog, but she said the focus had to be on making sure the priority was dealing with the people who require the care most urgently.

She said: "It is going to be a couple of years. We know we have to to work through that list and we have to make sure we are reviewing that list and doing it in the right order of clinical priority – patients who have the most need, not just a time based assessment. Cancer is a good example and some of those cases are more urgent."

Ms Skidmore said that one of the difficulties facing hospitals is that they still have to retain distancing and infection control measures – both of which limit the number of patients who can be seen, and at a time when more patients are now presenting at A&E units in both Shrewsbury and Telford than earlier in the pandemic.

She said: "Regardless of what happens over the next couple of months the hospital will still need to deploy all the infection prevention measures they have for a while and that does constrain capacity.

"For me the recovery trajectory around elective works does depend on Covid constraints and the number of Covid patients in hospital."

Although the number of Covid patients being treated at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford is significantly lower than the peak, earlier this year, the number is rising again.

Ms Skidmore said: "We have got a small number but it is growing and we are looking at that carefully and seeing how it develops."

She added: "Urgent and emergency care is really busy at the moment. We are seeing more poorly patients at SaTH, A&E attendance is up and that has an impact on how many beds are available for elective work."

Ms Skidmore said that considerable planning is underway to ensure the hospitals and the health system in the county can cope with whatever happens with Covid cases – and the knock on impact.

She said: "I think in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin we are in the same place as everyone else in the country and part of our job is to balance the competing demands with the resources we have.

"We know winter is a tough time, we know winter with Covid brings additional challenges and this winter is going to look still different to last year but that is where our collective work to look ahead and plan is what sees us through."

The recovery plan for the county's elective surgery will be discussed at Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin CCG’s Governing Body's meeting today.