Hospital treatment backlog will be dealt with on 'priority basis'
The backlog of patients waiting for hospital treatment because of the coronavirus pandemic will be dealt with according to clinical priority, bosses have said.
It means people who have been waiting months for elective surgeries at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital are likely to face longer waits if their treatment is not judged to be urgent.
Recent figures showed dozens of patients had been waiting more than a year for surgery at the hospital as coronavirus patients took precedence and meant other procedures were pushed back.
There are now fears a second wave of Covid-19 could hamper attempts to clear the backlog of cases.
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Gwen Nuttall, chief operating officer of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said hospitals had been tasked with returning services to "pre-Covid levels" by March.
She said told the trust's annual general meeting the likelihood of achieving this would depend on the second wave of coronavirus as well as winter pressures.
Ms Nuttall said: "We started in July contacting patients on a clinical priority basis. I can assure everybody all trust services have been restored. However, sadly because of the pandemic, waiting times have been increased."
Asked how long it would take to clear the backlog of patients, Ms Nuttall said: "That will vary by speciality. We have had to submit a plan to recover to pre-Covid levels by March 2021.
"All plans are subject to review and dependent on any second spike, flu or winter pressures."
She added: "We have been working on comprehensive restoration plans to recover waiting times. All trust services have been restored but there will be some challenges but there will be some challenges.
"We need to make sure we maintain social distancing and we need to make sure we stream patient flow."
