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Nearly 100,000 Patients Face Delayed Follow-Ups
12 Nov
Summary
- Over 98,000 overdue appointments at UHDB end of October.
- Ophthalmology and cardiology departments have largest backlogs.
- Emergency department wait times and corridor care are worsening.
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB) is grappling with a significant backlog of nearly 100,000 overdue follow-up appointments as of the end of October. This figure significantly exceeds the target and has been described as "off-plan and worse than last year," raising concerns among local NHS leaders about potential risks to patient care. Departments most affected by these delays are ophthalmology, with close to 20,000 appointments, and cardiology, with 12,000.
The trust is actively working to address these extensive waiting lists by clinically reviewing them to prioritize patients with the greatest need. Efforts are also underway to create more appointment slots, optimize existing clinics, and conduct targeted work in areas with the longest waits. Despite these initiatives, UHDB is also seeing a decline in other performance metrics. The proportion of emergency department patients facing waits exceeding 12 hours has nearly doubled in two months, and the time patients wait for ambulance handovers has quadrupled.
