Delay in administration of medical care

Name(s): 
Hospital waiting lists
Delayed surgery
Delay in emergency treatment
Incidence 
In the UK, in 1986, over 661,000 people were on waiting list for hospital treatment. Almost 40,000 people had been waiting for over a year for non-urgent orthopaedic operations and 10,000 had been waiting for over a month for urgent orthopaedic operations including hip replacements. In some districts 95% of non-urgent patients must wait over a year for treatment. Several officials believe that some people on waiting lists no longer need treatment because they have moved or have died. A 1993 report found a total of 1,030,763 people on UK waiting lists for hospital treatment, the country's record high and a 1.3% increase over the previous 6 months. In 1994 it was reported that patients were waiting an average of 5.5 hours for a bed in a hospital casualty department outside London.
Aggravates 
Type 
(D) Detailed problems