Almost 300,000 people are on an NHS waiting list at hospital trusts operating in Essex. Data recently released by NHS England has uncovered the state of hospitals in Essex as the winter crisis begins to bite.
The figures show a combined 297,526 were on waiting lists across hospitals managed by East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSE NHS) and the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust. The highest number of patients on a waiting list are at MSE NHS who run some of the county’s busiest hospitals in Chelmsford and Southend.
These figures come just days after the Government set out plans to give more power to patients in a bid to cut waiting lists. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the reform will change the NHS into “a modern service that puts patients in the driving seat”.
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NHS England’s latest figures also show almost 1,400 patients had to wait over 12 hours in accident and emergency wards in December 2024. It comes against the backdrop of local health experts raising concerns over a ‘tidal wave’ of flu sweeping through hospitals.
The Government’s plan to improve healthcare involves upgrading the NHS app to allow patients to choose providers, book appointments and receive test results. The proposals are part of the elective reform plan, setting out proposals to cut waiting lists and reduce waiting times to 18 weeks.
Currently, most patients receive test results through a phone call from a clinician, or a letter with either the result or instructions to book an appointment. This can happen some time after the diagnostics and will allow patients to receive test results more quickly.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting
(Image: PA)
Mr Streeting said: “If the wealthy can choose where and when they are treated, then working class patients should be able to as well, and this government will give them that choice. Our plan will reform the NHS, so patients are fully informed every step of the way through their care, they are given proper choice to go to a different provider for a shorter wait, and put in control of their own healthcare.
“This government’s reform agenda will take the NHS from a one size fits all, top down, ‘like it or lump it’ service, to a modern service that puts patients in the driving seat and treats them on time – delivering on our Plan for Change to drive a decade of national renewal. By bringing our analogue NHS into the digital age, we will cut waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks and give working class patients the same choice, control and convenience as the wealthy receive.”
The NHS England figures show there were 289 people in December who waited more than 12 hours in A&E at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. Around six in ten patients to A&E had to wait more than four hours whilst the trust has just over 41,000 people on waiting lists.
Stephanie Lawton, chief operating officer at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) in Harlow, said: “We are committed to improving the experience for our patients by ensuring that we focus on reducing waiting times for appointments and procedures. As with all hospitals, we are currently managing an extremely high demand for our urgent and emergency care services, which is also impacting elective, non-urgent operations. Thank you to our dedicated, hard-working teams and our system partners for your support.
“We are continuing to review and implement options for additional capacity to support patient flow including the use of temporary clinical resources (such as support from external providers), looking at opportunities for further enhancing operational efficiency and productivity such as improving theatre utilisation and improving the use of outpatient capacity; and working closely with our system partners to share how we can best support patients. We encourage patients to call 111, visit their GP or pharmacy if they do not have serious or life-threatening illness or injury.”
There are 163,477 people on waiting lists at hospitals run by Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust. There was also 256 people waiting more than 12 hours for treatment in A&E last month – a huge increase on the 66 in November. It’s the highest since records began for the trust in April 2020.
The trust has restricted visiting in the Emergency Department and Acute Medical Unit except for patients receiving end of life care due to extremely high demand. Matthew Hopkins, Chief Executive of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We welcome the government’s focus on reducing elective waiting lists. Many of the schemes, such as use of the independent sector and increasing support for GPs for faster referrals, are already in place across mid and south Essex. In 2025 and 2026 we are opening four Community Diagnostic Centres providing more imaging and endoscopy capacity – as well as having a designated elective surgery hub at Braintree.
Broomfield Hospital has visiting restrictions
(Image: photographic)
“However, we know people sometimes have to wait far longer for treatment than they should so, in addition, we are working hard to fix this, putting on extra theatre sessions and improving our outpatient bookings so fewer people miss their appointments.”
Mr Hopkins added: “Our hospitals are experiencing extremely high demand for their services, with many arriving at A&E by ambulance, reflecting just how busy the NHS is up and down the country. Staff are working hard to ensure safe care and anyone needing help for life threatening illness must always come forward.”
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust run hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich in Suffolk. More than 850 people were made to wait 12 hours or more in A&E in December – the highest among Essex’s hospital trusts – and 92,850 are on a waiting list.
Karen Lough is ESNEFT’s Director of Operations for Elective Care. She said: “Our teams are doing everything they can to reduce the backlog of people waiting for care and treatment in the communities we serve. This includes increasing our capacity and running additional clinic and surgery lists, including at weekends.
“We review all the patients on our waiting lists regularly. We also continue to prioritise patients based on their clinical need, in line with national guidance for all NHS trusts.
“Our patients’ time matters to us and we are already doing a lot of work to reduce the amount of follow-up appointments so patients are not brought back into hospital unnecessarily.”
Chief Executive of the trust, Nick Hulme, added: “Our staff are working incredibly hard, as ever, to make sure our patients are safe and maintain all our services. It has, however, been a particularly challenging start to the New Year.
“This is partly because Christmas was so busy. We’re also seeing a lot more patients with flu. We’d normally see numbers increasing in the second or third week of January, but we have seen it earlier this year.”
As a first line for urgent health issues call 111 or go online to 111.nhs.uk for advice. Life threatening emergencies should always dial 999