THERE has been a drop in the number of appointments for patients with treatable conditions at Dorset County Hospital, figures show - with health bosses apologising for the 'inconvenience and distress' the pandemic has had on treatment.
NHS Digital data shows 291,135 outpatient appointments were booked at Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in the year to March – a 16 per cent drop from the previous year, when 345,130 appointments were scheduled.
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Health think tank the Nuffield Trust has warned that cancellations and fewer referrals during the pandemic mean people with treatable conditions may be getting worse.
Around 83 per cent of appointments booked at Dorset County Hospital Trust went ahead, but nine per cent were cancelled by the Trust.
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The remainder were either not attended or cancelled by the patient.
A spokeswoman for the hospital said the picture reflected that happening across the country and said the hospital has also been offering virtual and telephone appointments during the pandemic.
She added: "The vast majority of booked appointments went ahead thanks the fantastic efforts of our staff to keep services running."
Chief medical officer at DCH Trust, Alastair Hutchison said: "We are aware of the impact that longer wait times have on our patients, and we're sorry for the inconvenience and distress.
"The safety of our patients is top priority and we will prioritise the most clinically urgent patients.
"We have rigorous infection control safety measures in place to protect both our patients and our staff.
"That means some of the procedures take longer to perform because we have to clean more rigorously and clean equipment more carefully so that unfortunately is adding to the waiting times."
Across England, appointments fell by 18 per cent to 101.9 million, while 12.6 million appointments were cancelled by hospitals in 2020-21 – compared to 16 per cent more than the year before.
Sarah Scobie, deputy director of research at the Nuffield Trust, said the number of outpatient appointments partially recovered in the summer, however ongoing infection control measures meant the NHS was still struggling to see as many patients as it did pre-pandemic.
She said: "In response to the cancellation of other services and less referrals into the health system from GPs, the NHS managed to shift many outpatient appointments to remote consultations to ensure that those patients most in need could be seen while protecting them from the continuing risks of Covid-19.
"The knock-on effect of these cancellations is that more people have been left waiting longer for appointments to diagnose and treat illness, impacting their day to day lives and potentially making treatable conditions worse."
She added the national waiting list – already at 4.5 million patients before the pandemic – could grow 'significantly further' if cancellations are made this winter.
The Government said it had provided 'record investment' to the NHS for frontline care and to increase efficiencies.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: “The pandemic has put enormous pressures on the NHS, but we are committed to ensuring people get the treatment they need.
“We have provided record investment to tackle the backlog, including £2 billion this year and £8 billion over the next three years, which will deliver an extra 9 million checks, scans, and operations for patients across the country.
“At the same time, the NHS is deploying more efficient, innovative ways of working and the latest technology to deliver more appointments and treatments.”
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