A 74-year-old cancer patient at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, waited 20 hours to be seen. John Warner is being treated for myeloma, and had a suspected blood clot in the leg, but had to wait just under a day to be checked. John commented that the experience “was chaos, and we just had to wait.” Maureen Warner, John’s wife, said: “It was very worrying, and I was concerned about John’s condition, but there was nothing we could do”.  

John and Maureen both explain this as being the only time they have had to wait for a long period of time. John mentions that they “can’t complain at all about the service we’ve had” and said it seemed to be a “one off.”

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust runs Addenbrooke’s, and the chief executive Roland Sinker, said he is “desperately sorry” that patients are having to wait.  

Hospitals in England are struggling to admit patients within the goal time of 4 hours. Currently, just over half are being seen in this time. Last month, the figures stood at over 50 per cent for the whole of England, which is lower than the rest of 2023 so far.  

There could still be a backlog from Covid, with the NHS being overwhelmed, and underfunded. The wait when going into hospital appears to be an even longer and more draining process.