Hospitals cancelled swathes of ‘non-urgent’ operations to focus on coronavirus, while GPs switched to phone and video consultations. In addition, many ill people delayed seeking help after ministers told the public to stay at home to protect the NHS. Patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks for treatment after an NHS referral – but more than 300,000 have been waiting for over a year. Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said the impact of the pandemic on non-Covid patients has been ‘profound’. We could have had longer together if his treatment started earlier and the quality of his life may have been better.

Source: Daily Mail March 21, 2021 22:19 UTC