Sajid Javid has warned that NHS waiting lists could rocket to 13 million in the coming months as the health service grapples with the Covid third wave on top of a huge backlog of treatment.
In his first interview since taking over as health secretary, Mr Javid said he was “shocked” by the growing numbers waiting for non-Covid care.
Hospitals across the country are already in crisis mode because of surging Covid cases and staff shortages due to workers having to self-isolate if they are ‘pinged’ by the Covid app.
The Independent revealed on Friday that thousands of patients are being kept on hold for at least two minutes before 999 calls are answered, while new figures show record numbers of trips to A&E last month.
Officials have told Mr Javid that situation will worsen in the coming weeks.
“What shocked me the most is when I was told that the waiting list is going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” he told the Sunday Telegraph.
“It’s gone up from 3.5 million to 5.3 million as of today, and I said to the officials so what do you mean ‘a lot worse’, thinking maybe it goes from 5.3 million to six million, seven million. They said no, it’s going to go up by millions… it could go as high as 13 million.
“Hearing that figure of 13 million, it has absolutely focused my mind, and it’s going to be one of my top priorities to deal with because we can’t have that.”
It comes as NHS trusts are facing the combined hit of Covid cases rising again, the backlog for other treatments including cancer checks and heart disease,
NHS Providers, the membership organisation for NHS trusts in England, warned that up to a fifth of staff could be absent from one NHS trust in just three weeks from now, potentially leading to the cancellation of as many as 900 operations.
At least four ambulance trusts have issued “black alerts” in recent days, with queues to admit patients and waits of up to 15 hours inside hospitals.
Mr Javid also confirmed that ministers were considering weakening the isolation policy for double-jabbed NHS staff, saying there is “every reason to think that we can take a more proportionate and balanced approach.”
Warnings over 19 July, when almost all Covid restrictions are lifted, were echoed by Greater Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham, who said it was more like “anxiety day” than freedom day.
“The Government is simply wrong to frame everything from here as a matter of pure personal choice. It is not,” he told the Observer.
“Many people who are vulnerable to the virus have to use public transport and do their food shopping in person. That is why the wearing of face coverings in these settings should have remained mandatory. I will be strongly encouraging the people of Greater Manchester to continue to wear masks on public transport out of respect for others.”
Mr Javid said anyone who would not wear a mask in an enclosed space was “just being irresponsible” despite it becoming guidance rather than the law in Step 4 of restrictions lifting.
Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “Given Sajid Javid now considers it irresponsible to not wear masks then it would be equally irresponsible for his government to carry on with the plan to lift mask requirements while infections are heading to 100,000 a day.”
The rate of new cases of coronavirus in most areas of England is now back at levels last seen during the winter.
Patient numbers have risen to levels last seen around three months ago.
And there has been a very slight increase in the average number of deaths reported each day of people in England who died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
But this is still far below the sort of numbers seen in January and February of this year.
The Sunday Times reported that No 10 had asked the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to look at whether the wait between the two doses of the vaccine could be cut to four weeks in light of the rise in cases.
