Waiting lists for routine operations starting to fall after reaching record highs
The number of patients waiting for routine treatment at Shropshire's major hospitals has started to fall for the first time since reaching record levels during the pandemic, new figures show.
Bosses say there was an increase in the restoration of planned medical services during June, while work is under way to recruit further theatre staff and develop 'theatre apprentice' roles.
A new report to the board of directors at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) shows there were still more than 33,000 patients waiting for planned operations and procedures in June, but that number has fallen since May.
The number of patients who have been waiting for at least a year also reduced by 343 to 2,932.
The report says that ward changes at Princess Royal Hospital in Telford have enabled elective orthopaedic surgery to re-commence, while the trust, which also runs Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, is continuing to use a mobile theatre to increase capacity and has invested in additional theatre sessions.
In the report to the board, which meets on Thursday, chief operating officer Nigel Lee says staff have been forced to juggle the recovery of elective services with managing increasing pressures in A&E.
He says: "Plans to expand the elective inpatient capacity have been implemented at the end of June on both sites; this will put additional pressure on emergency care capacity but is vital to reduce waiting lists.
"The regional mobile CT scanner left SaTH at the start of June, and the service is prioritising the urgent and cancer activity (and any routine activity where possible) until new capacity comes on line at start of September 2021.
"Radiology staffing is also pressured, and is limiting some restoration of services.
"Cancer activity has also returned to above pre-Covid-19 levels, and a number of specialty areas are challenged."
Rhia Boyode, director of workforce, also writes in the report that Covid-19-related sickness remained relatively low in June but the hospitals saw a spike in staff required to isolate due to growing numbers of Test and Trace alerts.
However, she says in "exceptional circumstances" where there is a significant risk to services, frontline staff may be able to come back to work "after a rigorous risk assessment process".
The waiting lists have grown massively over the past year.
In June 2020, the waiting list size at SaTH stood at 23,087.
Nationally, the NHS is investing an additional £1 billion in extra operations and treatments to restore services and cut backlogs that have built up while 405,000 people needed hospital treatment for Covid.
