NHS
The chief executive says further industrial action by young doctors will hamper progress in reducing healthcare waiting lists
An NHS boss has warned that his confidence is now being “stretched to the limit to ensure safe care” amid ongoing strikes among junior doctors – and warned that further work stoppages would undermine efforts to cut long waiting times.
Cutting waiting lists was one of Rishi Sunak's key priorities last year, with the state of the health service regularly ranking among voters' top concerns. However, with the NHS in the midst of a doctors' strike and this being the toughest two weeks of the winter for many, there are already warnings that further strikes could halt progress on waiting times.
Young doctors' leaders have said they are ready to support further strikes, even as some trusts have reported critical incidents as they struggle to withstand the pressure.
Richard Mitchell, chief executive of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, told the Observer that the significant progress his trust made on waiting lists last year would be extremely difficult to repeat should the threat of new strikes arise.
“We are doing our best to provide patients with safe care this winter,” he said. “I have worked in the NHS for 22 years and have been chief executive for over six years. The last month was one of the most challenging of my working life.”
Total waiting lists in England have risen from 7.2 million patients when Sunak made his pledge to 7.7 million in October, according to the latest figures available. While long waiting times of more than 18 months have fallen significantly since their peak in 2021, a Government pledge to abolish them by April last year has fallen short. Almost 9,000 people were waiting more than 18 months for treatment at the end of August.
But some trusts, including Mitchell's, were able to reduce their numbers last year. The number of patients waiting for elective treatment at University Hospitals at Leicester NHS Trust has been reduced by 20%, diagnosis waiting times by 40% and there are 66% fewer patients waiting for cancer treatment. The maximum waiting time for care has been reduced by half. But he warned that strikes had prevented further progress and further work stoppages would jeopardize future cuts.
“While this progress is positive, we would be doing much better without the repeated industrial action,” he said. “Although we have worked to protect planned cancer care as much as possible, we have inevitably had to reschedule appointments. We remain committed to further reducing long wait times this year, but it will be difficult.”
Several NHS trusts in England have already reported critical incidents during the strike, which continues until Tuesday. Some urged staff to return to work, citing patient safety. This means Sunak's key commitment on NHS waiting times is at risk of being reversed. Official data suggests the waiting list has increased by 500,000 since the Prime Minister's commitment a year ago.
Mitchell said the strike came at the worst time. “As early January is always one of the busiest times, the impact this week is particularly problematic,” he said. “Emergency departments are very busy – some patients are unfortunately waiting longer for ambulances outside of emergency departments than we would like, and this is impacting on the ambulance service’s ability to dispatch crews to the most vulnerable patients in the community. It is incredibly difficult for morale when we are unable to consistently provide the level of patient care we all strive for.”
He said that although resolving the salary dispute with young doctors required nationwide action from the government, local hospitals were trying to improve conditions for young doctors. “As employers, we need to do more to provide basic amenities for everyone, including things like 24-hour hot food, easily accessible beverage stations, parking, adequate on-call rooms and reliable Wi-Fi,” he said.
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