The number of patients stuck on NHS waiting lists has reached 7 million for the first time ever – prompting calls for virtual and technological solutions.
Pressure is mounting for the NHS to improve its virtual care systems as yet another surge brings waiting lists to an all-time high.
NHS England revealed this week that the waiting list for treatment has reached 7 million for the first time in history – with experts saying the UK health system is “on the brink of collapse”.
The data shows there were seven million people waiting to start routine hospital treatment at the end of August – now up from 6.8 million in July and is the highest number since records began in August 2007.
Staffing crisis and burnout
The NHS has suffered a staffing crisis for some time, with doctors and medical professionals suffering from excessive hours and burnout.
Meanwhile, hospitals across the country are failing to cope with demand and simply don’t have the bed space, leading to more expectation on virtual hospital wards and technological care.
Virtual care and hospitals of the future
Though technology and innovation seem like a logical route out of a national health and staff crisis, we shouldn’t be expecting hospitals to go fully virtual.
Pritesh Mistry of The King’s Fund previously commented: “An increasing amount of diagnostics and monitoring will be done at home, thanks to new technology like cameras that can be swallowed in a pill and patients using the camera on their mobile phone to diagnose symptoms.
“These advances in remote monitoring could be combined with virtual reality technology to support patients to rehabilitate at home, with wearables technology to monitor progress and ensure safety.
“While we shouldn’t expect hospitals to go fully virtual, we can expect greater use of remote consultations, utilising video and artificial intelligence, with in-person consultations available when necessary.
“There is also huge potential for greater use of robotics in surgery, especially for complex operations.
“Robotics could also be used for moving patients and could help ensure high levels of hygiene.
He added: “Artificial intelligence is already being used for image analysis and segmentation. Beyond this, there is huge potential for simple AI to be used in everything from virtual assistants providing task management support, to language processing for medical information capture.”
Simply “no staff” to cope
Dr. Charles Armitage, CEO and founder of Florence, a tech platform connecting NHS and social care workers with available shifts, commented on the recent news about 7 million.
He said: “The NHS is on the brink of collapse and is not equipped to deal with the challenges it faces.
“This shockingly high backlog exists because we simply don’t have the front line staff in place to deal with growing demands.
“We’re seeing a dramatic increase in wait times as elective surgeries put on hold during COVID-19 restarted, but we simply don’t have the front line staff to deal with the added pressure.
“This combined with a high vacancy rate is leading to unprecedented pressure on healthcare services.
“The interface between the NHS and social care, A&E and discharge, or the front door and the back door of the healthcare system, is where we’re seeing the biggest pinch points and the system is really starting to break down.
NHS “completely falling to pieces”
“When I was a doctor, I saw first hand the number of people lying in beds waiting to be discharged and it’s only getting worse.
“The NHS and social care workforce is completely falling to pieces.
“The frontline staff kept the NHS together during the pandemic and promised it would get easier, but over the last six to eight weeks, managers have been trying to fill more and more shifts.
“We’re at a crisis point and we need the government to do something about it. The government needs to look at a long term strategy and predict the trajectory for decades to come.
“It takes years to effectively train doctors and nurses and we need to look beyond a single government. As an immediate measure we need at least an inflation matching pay rise to prevent people leaving. ”
Is future healthcare virtual?
Whether or not we’re headed for a technological solution remains to be seen, but there has been an increased uptake in virtual consultation, virtual hospital wards, and the NHS Hospital at Home scheme, all of which is thought to free-up physical space and get patients seen more quickly.
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