Number of patients seen by hospitals rockets by five MILLION annually in 15 years as NHS demand reaches breaking point, study shows English hospitals dealing with 5 million more patients than 15 years ago The ageing population, obesity crisis and diabetes have all been blamed Number of emergency, planned and day-case patients has soared by more than 40 per cent since 2004, to 17.6 million in 2016-17
By Victoria Allen for the Daily Mail
Published: 01:03 BST, 22 April 2019 | Updated: 01:03 BST, 22 April 2019
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Hospitals in England are dealing with 5 million more patients than 15 years ago.
The number of emergency, planned and day-case patients has soared by more than 40 per cent since 2004, to 17.6 million in 2016-17. The ageing population, obesity crisis and diabetes have all been blamed.
People being treated as outpatients waited 11 days longer in 2016-17, with the average time to treatment jumping from 37 days in 2007-08 to 48 days.
Researchers at the University of York spelled out the pressure mounting on the NHS, which has seen emergency visits to A&E rise almost 9 per cent in a decade.
