The number of routine operations being carried out in the NHS fell by nearly a quarter in January as hospitals tried to cope with the influx of coronavirus patients during a difficult start to the year.
Almost 23,000 fewer operations – including cataract replacements and hip replacements – were carried out last month compared to December.
NHS figures leaked to the Health Service Journal show that the number of surgeries taking place each week fell from 110,000 to just 85,000.
In late December, a surge in the number of Covid patients meant that hospitals had to commit more critical care units to deal with them – leaving many patients who had been on waiting lists for elective procedures having to wait still longer.
At the peak of the second wave in January there were almost double the number of Covid patients on wards than during the first wave of the pandemic, and there are still more than there were in April and May last year.
London and the South East faced the biggest drops in procedures, by 40% in day cases and 57% in overnight admissions.
The two regions were hit hardest in the second wave – along with the East of England – after the more so-called ‘Kent variant’ of the virus emerged.
In recent weeks, charities and some health bosses have warned that the focus on coronavirus patients is leading to delays in seeing patients suffering from other conditions, including heart conditions and cancer, which is likely to lead in patients suffering and an increase in avoidable deaths.
The latest official figures from NHS England show 4.46million people were on waiting lists by December, of which almost 200,000 had been for more than a year.
This was the highest number since records began since 2007 and 140 times more than in 2019.