UK: 120,000 people died last year while being on National Health Service’s waiting list for hospital treatment

According to data obtained by the UK’s Labour Party, over 120,000 individuals in England died last year while on the National Health Service’s (NHS) waiting list for hospital treatment, as reported by The Guardian. This figure is double the count from the year 2017/2018, which recorded 60,000 deaths during waiting.

Among the hospitals mentioned, the Royal Free hospital in London reported 3,615 such deaths, while the Morecambe Bay trust in Cumbria recorded 2,888 deaths, and the Leeds teaching hospital saw 2,039 deaths.

The significant number of patient deaths during waiting times is attributed to a “decade of underinvestment” in the healthcare system, leading to prolonged delays in medical treatment.

Healthwatch England, an advocacy group for patients that monitors NHS performance, termed these deaths a “national tragedy.” Louise Ansari, the CEO of Healthwatch England, emphasized the detrimental impact of care delays on people’s lives, putting many at risk.

Dr. Emma Runswick, Deputy Chair of the British Medical Association Council, criticized the government’s mismanagement of healthcare services for the alarming death toll and considered it a reflection of their shortcomings.

To gather this data, Labour reached out to 138 health trusts to inquire about patient deaths while on NHS waiting lists during 2022. Of these, 35 trusts responded, indicating 30,611 deaths. Extrapolating from this data, Labour estimated that across England, 120,695 patients died while awaiting medical care.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, lamented that record numbers of people spent their final moments in pain, waiting for care that never materialized, highlighting a breach of the core NHS promise.

However, the NHS criticized Labour’s findings, dismissing them as unreliable and misleading. An NHS spokesperson contended that the analysis lacked critical information such as the cause of death, age, and medical conditions.

The report highlighted that doctors’ representative groups did not question the accuracy of the figures. They attributed the deaths to the immense pressure hospitals were facing and the pervasive staff shortage, which hindered the NHS’s ability to deliver prompt care. Consequently, the waiting list has surged to a historic high of 7.6 million individuals, underscoring the strain on the healthcare system.