Thread by @ChrisCEOHopson

1/9 We've been talking publicly about the clinical prioritisation of elective surgery cases in the next phase which has been picked up in the media today. EG @BBCr4today headlines. The tweet thread below sets out our comments in full as there is significant nuance here!

2/9 "We can’t say with certainty how long it will take to tackle the backlog of planned operations because we don’t really know how big that backlog will end up being. The NHS will obviously go as fast as it can, as we always do.

3/9 "But it's already apparent that clearing the entire backlog will take years rather than months. However, it’s important to keep this in perspective. Suggestions we’ve seen that the waiting list will hit 10 million by April are simply not going to happen.

4/9 "But it’s a real worry that, due to covid, waiting lists have grown & will continue to grow for some time yet. Nobody in the NHS wants any patient to wait for treatment but we’ve understandably had to concentrate on saving lives at immediate risk and vaccinating the nation.

5/9 “The key next question is about priorities for the backlog. The NHS is obviously now concentrating on the most urgent cases that had to be delayed for a small number of days or weeks due to the last phase of the pandemic. Trusts are making good and rapid progress here.

6/9 "Longer term, there will inevitably be pressure to prioritise those who have waited more than a year as the size of increase here is getting the most media/political attention. But trusts want to avoid a simplistic approach that only focuses on those who have waited longest.

7/9 "We know there will be people who have greater clinical need. People’s whose lives could be permanently scarred by serious long term illness or who would never be able to go back to work who will not be in the 52 week plus category. So we need sophisticated prioritisation...

8/9 "That prioritisation should be based on local clinicians’ judgements. Rather than being solely determined by what politicians or some in the media are saying about people waiting more than 52 weeks, important though all of these cases are.

9/9 “The NHS has always prioritised treatment on the basis of clinical need and we shouldn’t allow the way we measure waiting lists to divert us from this approach in this new situation".