Patients face minimum three month wait for non-urgent NHS surgery under controversial NHS cuts

PATIENTS face three month minimum waits for non-urgent NHS surgery under controversial cost-cutting plans.

Five local health boards in England – covering nearly one million patients - want to delay elective operations, such as hip, knee and cataract ops.

They claim making sick Brits wait will help save cash, as some will get better without surgery.

But critics warn it will simply worsen the suffering of thousands of desperately ill patients.

The rationing, which was uncovered by the Health Service Journal [must keep], came under fire from medical leaders.

Sue Hill, Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons, slammed the plans as “ethically wrong”.

She said: “Delaying surgery can mean a patient’s condition worsens, and can make surgery more difficult and less successful.

“We urge the government…not force patients to wait a minimum of three months for routine surgery.”

The five areas considering minimum waits for elective ops are east, south, south west and west Lincolnshire, and Trafford, in Greater Manchester.

Former Lib Dem Health Minister Norman Lamb said: “This is a shameful indictment of the under-funding of our NHS.

“Those who can afford to will go private to skip the wait, while others will be left waiting in pain and discomfort.”

The plans to restrict treatment come a week after figures revealed numbers waiting longer than six months for NHS surgery rocketed by 40 per cent in the past year.

Health think tanks claim the health service now needs an extra £4billion a year – or be forced to slash services.

It has led NHS supremo Simon Stevens to warn a record five million patients will be stuck on hospital lists by 2021 without extra cash.

Under NHS rules, 92 per cent of patients should be seen within 18 weeks for non-urgent ops.

But hospitals have not hit the standard since February last year.

A spokesman for the Lincolnshire health boards said: “The NHS has a responsibility to ensure public money is spent effectively and efficiently.

“There is evidence that some conditions do get better over time and that, in some cases, surgery may be unnecessary.”

And a spokesperson from Trafford Clinical Commissioning Group said: “Trafford CCG is currently facing a real financial challenge and is constantly exploring all potential opportunities to reduce cost, improve effectiveness and spend money in the most efficient way possible.”

NHS England failed to condemn the plans to delay operations.

A spokesman said: “Clinical Commissioning Groups [local health boards] face difficult choices about what can be afforded within the funds Parliament has made available, recognising the priority being accorded to emergency care, mental health, cancer and GP services.”