Around 65,000 Lincolnshire people are currently waiting for NHS hospital treatment, around 13,000 more than in March 2020.
In March last year, seven people had waited more than one year for treatment. Now, 3,856 people have been recorded as waiting more than 52 weeks.
Approximately 1,800 of these patients are waiting for treatment in United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust hospitals, and the remainder are waiting for treatment from other providers or out of the county.
In 2013/14, NHS England set an operational standard to ensure that no-one waits more than 52 weeks for treatment. In March 2020, after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, non-urgent elective activity was postponed to free up inpatient and critical care capacity which has resulted in the increase.
The pandemic has had a huge impact on NHS services’ ability to treat patients, the trust said as it announced a plan to restore services to pre-COVID levels.
To address the lengthy queues experienced by patients waiting for time-critical surgery, providers across the county will introduce changes to its referral system.
A particular focus will be on elective care (planned medical care or surgery not regarded as emergency treatment.)
Once referred to hospital, a patient will receive a letter from the National E-Referral System or from the hospital directly.
If they have not received any correspondence within 4-6 weeks of referral, they can check on the NHS app (free to download) or contact their GP Practice to check they have been referred in the first instance.
Referrals are then reviewed by consultants within the hospital and patients are prioritised according to their clinical condition. Whilst waiting, should a patient’s symptoms deteriorate, the NHS are advising them to contact the hospital they have been referred to so a specialist can review their changing symptoms and their referral letter.
Once a patient is referred, GP Practices cannot help ‘speed up’ referrals or have them dealt with any quicker, however they may be able to support with symptom management whilst they wait for their appointment.
Simon Evans, ULHT Chief Operating Officer said: “We realise that this is a difficult time, especially for those people who are still waiting for treatment, and we apologise for the distress this may have caused. We are doing everything in our power to address this and to introduce initiatives that will make a major contribution to reduce the length of time people are waiting.”
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We are appealing for witnesses and anyone with dashcam footage following a serious collision on the A17 at Sutterton earlier today.
Officers received reports of a two-vehicle collision involving a lorry and a car shortly after 6am. The male driver of a Ford Fiesta sustained serious injuries and was taken to hospital. The lorry driver was uninjured.
The A17 roundabout was closed just before 6:30am and was reopened after 1:30pm.
If you witnessed the collision or if you were in the area at the time and captured anything on dashcam, please get in touch in one of the following ways below:
By calling 101 quoting incident 65 of today’s date.
By emailing [email protected] quoting incident 65 of today’s date in the subject line.
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can report via the independent charity CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.
Face coverings will once again be made compulsory in shops and on public transport from Tuesday, November 30 — but pubs and restaurants are exempt for now.
The Prime Minister announced the new, temporary measures to respond to emergence of UK cases of the Omicron COVID variant, with the first two cases in Nottingham and Chelmsford.
The government said the measures are precautionary, and will be reviewed in three weeks. MPs are due to vote on confirming the measures after they come into force.
The other significant change affects international travellers, with everyone entering the UK (other than those coming from the Common Travel Area that covers the Channel Islands and Ireland) will have to take a PCR test by the end of the second day after their arrival and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.
Travel restrictions have already been implemented to slow the spread of the variant. From Sunday, November 28, South Africa, Botswana, Lesostho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibi, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Angola were added to the UK’s travel red list.
About COVID-19 Omicron
The Omicron variant contains a large number of spike protein mutations as well as mutations in other parts of the viral genome.
Early indications suggest this variant may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and current vaccines may be less effective against it.
A rapid rise in infections in South Africa has been attributed to the spread of this new variant of COVID-19.
Health secretary: “plans as normal for Christmas”
Sajid Javid told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips On Sunday it would be “irresponsible to make guarantees” but the measures announced this week in reaction to the Omicron variant will “buy us time” to enable scientists to assess it.
“People should continue with their plans as normal for Christmas, I think it’s going to be a great Christmas,” he said.
But Mr Javid said the country was “nowhere near” reintroducing measures such as working from home or social distancing, arguing that they carry a “heavy price” economically, socially and in terms of mental health.
He added that he was expecting the government’s vaccines advisers to advise him “imminently” on broadening the booster programme to younger age groups.
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