NHS 'bottom of pack' in global study as patients waiting for ops see health deteriorate

Brits’ health is worsening as the country records some of the longest hospital waiting times in an international study.

It comes as a national survey by the Care Quality Condition found almost half of patients are seeing their health deteriorate while they wait for care - and around a fifth said it “got much worse”.

The Health Foundation has analysed the 2023 Commonwealth Fund survey of 21,000 people from 10 developed countries, including over 3,000 from the UK. The UK fared worst for waits for a specialist appointment, with 11% waiting a year or more. This was 0.7% in the Netherlands, 0.8% in Switzerland, and 1.6% in the US and Germany.

It also found last year 19% of UK patients needing elective surgery, such as hip replacements or cataracts, waited a year or more. Only Canada fared worst at 20%. By comparison the Netherlands reported zero waits of over a year and only 2.1% reported such delays in Germany.

Waiting times have increased most rapidly in the UK, from a low of 14% of respondents waiting more than four weeks for a specialist appointment in 2013 to a high of 61% in 2023. A decade ago, the UK was one of the best nations for people seeing hospital specialists in less than four weeks but has "slipped from being one of the better-performing nations in 2013 to one of the worst in 2023", according to the think tank.

Ruth Thorlby, policy director at the Health Foundation, said: “These findings show the UK consistently coming near the bottom of the pack on people’s experience of healthcare compared to other high-income countries. It sheds yet more light on just how much work the government has to do to get the NHS back on its feet. The combined effect of the pandemic and below average spending growth has left the NHS in a fragile state. There are no quick fixes, but the NHS can recover with the right mix of policy change, innovation and investment.”

The Commonwealth Fund's International Health Policy Survey, which has been running for nearly two decades, saw adults from 10 high income countries, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the US and the UK, asked about their experiences using healthcare services.

Separately, the CQC’s annual survey of 64,000 patients who stayed overnight at 131 NHS hospitals across England last year found 43% reported that their health deteriorated while waiting to be admitted. This was up from 41% in 2022. The regulator found that out of those who reported a decline in their condition, some 25% said it got “a bit worse” and 18% said it got “much worse”.

Tim Mitchell, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “With a waiting list of over 7.6 million, surgeons are deeply concerned that patients will deteriorate while they wait, leading to more complex operations and worse outcomes.”

Nicola Wise, CQC director, said: “It’s concerning that we’ve seen an increase in the number of people who feel their health deteriorated while they waited for elective care – further evidence that the current imbalance between patient demand and treatment capacity is putting people at risk.”

Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “Far too many people face long delays for care and treatment - often at the expense of their health and wellbeing. While challenges persist, it is testament to the hard work and dedication of NHS staff that most patients are positive about interactions with frontline teams. They see how hard they are working, often in incredibly challenging conditions."

The NHS waiting list increased again in the final month under the Tories confirming it more than trebled during their time in power. The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England had risen for the third month in a row to 7.62 million at the end of June - up from 2.5 million during 2010 when the Tories came to power.

Professor Philip Banfield, council chair at the British Medical Association, said: “This report once again shows that, despite the heroic efforts of staff, UK health systems are languishing behind our comparable global neighbours when it comes to delivering for patients. We know waits for hospital care are at near-record levels in the UK, but the dire situation is underlined when we see ourselves alongside other countries we should be performing well against.

“As the Health Foundation itself points out, while all nations have struggled with recovering after the pandemic, below-average spending on health in the UK has made pressures here even worse. We mustn’t forget that waiting lists were already at record highs before Covid arrived."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We inherited a broken NHS and it is unacceptable that so many people are waiting longer than needed for care. It is our mission to get the health service back on its feet and build an NHS fit for the future. We know that waiting lists are too high, and it is one of the reasons the Health and Social Care Secretary ordered a full independent investigation into the state of the NHS to lay bare the scale of the problem. We will tackle head on the biggest issues gripping the NHS by delivering an extra 40,000 appointments every week and learning from good practice across the country, taking the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS.”

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Despite our progress in tackling the longest waits in England, Labour’s failures in Wales and the SNP's in Scotland have dragged Britain down the international rankings."