More than 50k patients left waiting for hospital treatment after pandemic
COVID-19 has seen the number of patients waiting for hospital treatment in south Essex rise to more than 50,000 - with some waiting two years.
A Pitsea GP has said her heart goes out to people waiting, but urged patients to remember the NHS has battled a global pandemic.
During the pandemic hospitals ceased non-urgent treatment to focus on priority surgery, leaving mid and south Essex hospitals seeing 63 per cent of patients within 18 weeks against a target of 85 per cent.
The hospitals have resumed seeing some non-urgent patients but face an uphill battle to tackle the backlog.