LONDON, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said Tuesday that around 10 million people are estimated to have stayed away from hospital for surgery and the number will continue rising.
Providing details of a COVID-19 pandemic delivery plan, Javid told the House of Commons, the lower house of the British Parliament, millions of people avoided the National Health Service (NHS) during the heights of the pandemic.
Javid said the number of people waiting for elective care in England now stands at 6 million, up from 4.4 million before the pandemic.
"Sadly, this number will continue rising before it falls. And the most up-to-date estimate from the NHS is that that number is around 10 million people," he added.
Britain registered 66,183 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 17,932,803, according to official figures released Tuesday.
The country also reported a further 314 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 158,677.
Javid said with a focus on urgent care, the NHS couldn't deal with non-urgent care. He also told members of parliament that before the pandemic, 1,600 people waited longer than one year for care, but the latest data shows this figure is over 300,000.
"I want these people to know that the NHS is open. I want them to come forward for the care they need," Javid said.
"We don't know how many will now come forward -- whether 30 percent or 80 percent will return because no country has faced a situation like this ever before," he said. "Even if half of these people come forward, this is going to place huge demand on the NHS, and we are pulling out all the stops so that the NHS is there for them when they do."
Javid outlined a new multi-billion dollar recovery plan for the NHS, focusing on four key areas, with more front-line clinicians, a record number of doctors and nurses working in the NHS, a record number of students at medical school and a record number of students applying to train as nurses.
He said the backlog will also be tackled, with the NHS expecting waiting lists to be reduced by March 2024.
Reforms in the health service will enable the NHS to carry out an additional 9 million tests, checks and procedures by 2025, and around 30 percent more elective activity each year in three years' time than before the pandemic, he noted.
Under the plan, waiting for elective care will fall to under a year by March 2025. By July of this year, the aim is to ensure that no one will wait longer than two years.
"I know the anxiety that patients feel when they are waiting for care," Javid said, "especially if they feel like they don't have the certainty about where they sit in the queue, and I am determined to make sure that as we enter this next phase, we will be open and transparent with patients." ■
