Healthcare systems around the world are facing major challenges. Many are in the midst of a crisis – the UK is no exception. Find out, how bad it really is.
Current figures show that in England alone, around 7 million people had been on the waiting lists of the National Health Service (NHS) – the state-run healthcare system in Great Britain and Northern Ireland – in October 2022. Scotland and Wales had 475,000 and 755,000 people on their respective waiting lists in September 2022.
“We found that 1 in 5 (20 %) adults reported they were waiting for a hospital appointment, test, or to start receiving medical treatment through the NHS. Of those waiting for an appointment, 70 % reported that they had been waiting for up to 6 months. Around 8 % reported that they had been waiting between 7 and 11 months, and 18 % reported they had been waiting for a year or longer,” according to the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Reported waiting times of adults in an NHS waiting list, Great Britain, 22 November to 4 December 2022. Credit: Office for National Statistics (ONS) – Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (PPN)
These significant waiting times not only impact patients’ mood, but also their overall health. For example, 34 % of all adults currently waiting for NHS treatment said that the waiting time has majorly impacted their lives in a negative way. 42 % said they do not feel significantly, but still negatively impacted. According to ONS, the most common consequences are:
The waiting times often force patients to seek out private medical services. One in eight respondents reported taking out additional private insurance and 7 % reported paying privately for the additional services they used.
But it is not only the urgent care that is getting worse. It is also becoming increasingly difficult for British and Northern Irish people to see a general practitioner. “Of those who had made an appointment in the past month, around a third (35 %) reported it being easy or very easy to make an appointment. Over half (52 %) reported it being difficult or very difficult,” according to the ONS. The most common problem patients had was that in 41 % of cases they were only offered a telephone consultation, even though they had asked for a face-to-face meeting. In addition, 36 % said they had to wait too long for an appointment. Also, 29 % had problems contacting the doctor’s office and 22 % could not get an appointment at all.
That such hurdles and long waiting times have consequences should come as no surprise. Many patients are desperate and take the first appointment they get – regardless of whether it meets their questions and demands (61 %). Arguably even more problematic, however, are patients who try to medically treat themselves out of desperation.
According to the Guardian, one in four Brits have bought medication online or from local pharmacies on their own, without a prescription, after failing to get an appointment with a GP, and 19 % went to A&E because of it. Also, 16 % of the 2,061 respondents said they had either treated themselves or asked people without a medical background to do so.
“We now have the devastating situation where people are left treating themselves or even self-prescribing medication because they can’t see their local GP,” says Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats. Dr. Richard Van Mellaerts, deputy chair of the British Medical Association’s GP committee in England, adds that self-care and the use of other health services are commendable – but added that it’s very worrying patients feel coerced into it because they can’t get an appointment with a GP.
Something has to change in the ailing British healthcare system – now. After all, some 500 Brits may already be dying every week because hospitals can’t treat incoming ambulances and emergencies in time. Plus, waiting lists for treatment are growing steadily, too. “If you look at the graphs, they are all going the wrong way, and I think there needs to be a real reset. We need to be in a situation where we cannot just shrug our shoulders and say ‘This winter was terrible, let's do nothing until next winter,’” explains Dr. Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. “We cannot continue like this – it is unsafe and it is undignified.”
Image Source: Kévin et Laurianne Langlais, unsplash
