Proud of exciting news that hundreds of thousands wait in agony for months
Hospitals with a year-long waiting list | Uk News | News | Telegraph
Almost half a million NHS patients are waiting more than a year for hospital treatment, official figures showed yesterday.
One person in eight who is admitted to hospital for a non-emergency procedure has to wait more than 52 weeks between being referred by a GP and being treated. There are also large variations in waiting times across the country.
The figures were revealed yesterday as Andy Burnham, the health minister, claimed that the Government was on track to deliver on its "historic" promise effectively to abolish hospital waiting lists by the end of next year. Previous waiting list figures have not included so-called "hidden waits" including those for diagnosis and referral between hospital specialists.
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Mr Burnham said: "These are very exciting set of figures of which the NHS should be very proud
My back slipped out over the weekend and so yesterday morning I rang my specialist - a chiropractor who has been tweaking it right for many years. I saw him at 12:00, paid my £35 and we were both happy. I can see him again next Monday, if I want to, as he will make time before he rushes off to catch a train at 10:00 in the morning. Never even occurs to me to see what the NHS could do, I don't keep an appointments diary that far into the future.