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HSJ has published a peek at internal NHS England data which tracks the number of urgent and non-urgent operations on the national waiting list.

According to an NHSE document, just over 100,000 patients recorded as needing “urgent” or priority two surgery were on the national surgical waiting list.

The data covered surgical patients on the “admitted pathway”, meaning those who have had a decision to treat.

This number needs unpacking slightly as it does not reveal how many of those patients had already been waiting for more than one month – this is the timeframe within which a priority two operation needs to take place.

As NHS England never publishes this data it’s also not possible to tell how much the P2 waiting list has increased – we’re provided instead with a snapshot of an eyewatering figure.

The national commissioner has been increasingly pressured to publish regular information on the covid-19 impact. Data on the number of people left waiting for urgent operations should surely be included?

News about the priority two waiting list comes also as separate data leaked to HSJ revealed elective care rates overall plummeted in January compared to December. Although levels were higher than they were during the first pandemic wave, when a moratorium was placed on elective care early on by NHS England.

CCG forced to ask itself questions

A clinical commissioning group has vowed to take action after a report found a “robust perception” of unequal opportunity among staff from minority ethnic backgrounds, and “inappropriate language and behaviours” from some managers.

Research for Herts Valleys CCG also found evidence that “some managers, and to a lesser extent, staff” were using “inappropriate language and behaviours which risk being discriminatory”.

It added: “A pervasive perception that inappropriate conduct is not always challenged, as it should be within the CCG, is also of relevance.”

The report said it found “good” general behaviours, language and cultural sensitivities demonstrated both by staff and managers. However, it also raised concerns over some responses it had received. Read the full story here.