Written Requests to Expedite Appointments

We are seeing an increase in Patients requesting their GP contact the Hospital to expedite their appointment and this is not something the practice is not able to facilitiate without supporting clinical information,

The backlog in secondary care consists of the care that the NHS would normally have delivered but which was disrupted as COVID-19 impacted service delivery. This includes:

• patients on a waiting list for treatment who would ordinarily have been seen by now
• patients who have not yet presented to their GP to seek a referral for symptoms due to concerns of burdening the health service or fears around COVID-19 infection
• patients who have had procedures cancelled
• patients who have had referrals delayed or cancelled
• patients who have had referrals refused due to a lack of capacity.

High waits for treatment are not new. Prior to the pandemic in February 2020 there were already 4.43 million people on a waiting list for care.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the combination of suspension of non-urgent services and changes to individuals’ behaviour meant that the number of people joining the waiting list initially dropped. However, this has since been rising – and despite some improvements earlier in the year, waiting times remain far higher than pre-COVID.

The latest figures for May 2023 show:

• around 7.47 million people waiting for treatment, a slight increase on the previous month;
• nearly 3.03 million of these patients waiting over 18 weeks;
• around 385,000 of these patients waiting over a year for treatment – which is around 307 times as many as in May 2019, before the pandemic began.
• a median waiting time for treatment of 14.1 weeks – almost double the pre-COVID median wait of 7.2 weeks in April 2019.

If you are experiencing worsening of your symptoms, we advise you to contact your specialist directly so they can assess your condition and make the necessary arrangements if an expedite of your appointment is appropriate. If you have difficulty in accessing your consultant, we advise you to contact PALS for assistance.

If you have been referred to West Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust you can view the average waiting times for most specialities here.