A big worry up here.

I've just had a look and all the mainstream media were reporting in December that waiting lists in England had hit an all time high of over 7 million.

And I know you specified two years but I think your use of that particular statistic is disingenuous. Of course it isn't good that some people have been waiting for treatment for so long but the size of the waiting list in England is staggering. The NHS in all parts of the country is in difficulty

This is an update from the Chief Statistician
Because the Northern Ireland and Scotland statistics do not include all stages of patient pathways like in Wales and England, it’s not possible to make direct comparisons across the headline statistics for all four nations on the total number of patients waiting.

Grandmabatty I only posted what I read this morning. I didn't 'use' any particular statistic just posted what was printed.

I too questioned the figure of 599.
In England, according to Healthwatch, 360,000 have been waiting for over a year.

I know from my own recent experience that waiting lists in Scotland for urgent referrals are long. I had been waiting since September for an urgent GP heart referral, despite having a serious heart condition. It was only when my GP phoned the consultant personally, that I was admitted to hospital within days.

Some of the problems are due to Covid, but also to staffing levels. I needed an urgent endoscopy, but out of four gastroenterology consultant positions in my local hospital, only one has been filled.
It's not all the Government's fault.

It's the Governments job to carry out efficient and timely workforce planning. If there aren't enough doctors and nurses why not? Lot of political issues there.

Aveline

It's the Governments job to carry out efficient and timely workforce planning. If there aren't enough doctors and nurses why not? Lot of political issues there.

Workforce planning for the now and into the future is absolutely key, and this has to be government led. We don't train enough doctors or nurses for what our needs actually are.

Yes, many departments are understaffed - Doctors and Nurses and its sheer lack of trained people and that's not just willing to work in the NHS but generally.

And the government has to show more respect and treat our health workers better, too. People don't just leave because of money - its working conditions.

I said that it is not only the Government's fault.

Covid and its aftermath has had a huge impact on the NHS. People like myself, who were sheilding, were severely affected by lack of care and treatment. My Rheumatologist was seconded to Covid ICU, so I never heard from him.

After a second heart attack during the height of the pandemic, I was in hospital for less than twenty four hours, because it was too risky for me to stay there.
That has impacted on my ongoing health, as I'm sure it has on many others, hence huge waiting lists.
Many patients, who did not have previous heart, nor lung issues, now have, after contracting Covid. No-one could predict those effects. My cardiologist told me that he had never seen such damage to hearts, as he did in Covid ICU.

Aveline

It's the Governments job to carry out efficient and timely workforce planning. If there aren't enough doctors and nurses why not? Lot of political issues there.

There is a shortage of doctors and nurses in the far Northwest of England. It has always been difficult to recruit.
It was on TV that Carlisle is getting staff from abroad. Though you have to wonder how long clearance will take.
It's not all the government's fault some of it is actually geographical. Not many want to work in the hospital on the West Coast of Cumbria. Lovely scenery but they receive patients some of who have travelled 40 miles with serious conditions.My relation was delivered in a layby because they could not get their mother to the hospital in time and that was at least 40 years ago.
I also know someone who went as a consultant and they lasted about two years and that was 15 years ago.
In some areas on going staff recruitment problems have been there for years not just since covid.
Do you give them an extra allowance to encourage them into what is seen as a very depressed area t, then there would be an outcry at the expense.
Many young Dr's do their house jobs and then go abroad. The question of why has to be addressed this has been discussed a lot on here. Answers by the government have to be found quickly.

Maybe there should be some sort of weighting allowance for more difficult areas of recruitment, like the London weighting pay grades.

Aveline

It's the Governments job to carry out efficient and timely workforce planning. If there aren't enough doctors and nurses why not? Lot of political issues there.

You’re making it sound as though this is a Scottish problem Aveline, whereas in reality it’s UK wide, and by most parameters Scotland is performing best of the UK nations. The focus should be on the lack of allocation from central government which is available to devolved nations to spend on improving the NHS (and in England of course).

I agree with all you say Casdon. There have always been areas in the whole of Britain that have found it difficult to recruit staff in all departments and at all levels.

This is a western world problem. The EU are short of a million health care workers .

Louella12

This is a western world problem. The EU are short of a million health care workers .

It’s much higher proportionately than that in the UK. The latest NHS vacancy statistics found that the total number of vacancies just for medical and nursing staff in England only, for September 2022 was 133,446, a vacancy rate of 9.7%.

There are 438,500 medical jobs vacant in Australia but that includes aged care where there has always been a problem. We are very short of G.Ps ,especially in country areas. They earn around $300,000 - $ 360,000 pa on average here but not many new graduates want the jobs. Seems to be a worldwide problem.

Casdon I was only posting what was published. It compared Scotland to England and Scotland came off much worse. Obviously it's a national problem. Some good suggestions on here though. Wish the Scottish government and other UK governments read them.p

Scottish government DO read and take notice Aveline ,as you are probably aware Nurses are better paid here in Scotland ,theyhave bursaries and free tuition and in most cases(apart from the 2 PFI labour built hospitals) free parking on site .
There have been NO strikes simply because the Scottish govenment has sat down with the unions and worked out deals .
I currently have two young neighbours who are junior doctors ,they tell me that although things aren't perfect,and what is .they are much better here than down south .So please dont try to get rid of devolution we'll be much.much worse off with WM back in "control"
Yes there is a labour shortage but as we voted remain in the BREXIT vote and were still dragged out of the eu against our will ,we lost a lot of NHS staff who would still be happily working here .You must know the mainstream media NEVER prints anything apart from SNP BAD stories even when they are fabricated .

Which government do you want to blame for shortages of doctors and nurses, Aveline? The working time directive was known to be coming in the 90s, as was the increasing proportion of female medical students. Human biology dictates that many of those will want some time off to have children, and perhaps work part-time after that. If the women go part-time, why shouldn't the men do so too if they want to? Nothing was done by any government , Tory, Labour, SNP, Coalition, or Tory since then, so take your pick.

This is not the first time I have been banging on about the lack of medical workforce planning on GN, so sorry to anyone who is fed up hearing about it

Workforce planning is a major issue in Scotland and the rest of the UK. As paddyann will remember it was Nicola Sturgeon when she was health minister that cut nurse training places. We're reaping the results of that bad decision now.