Covid: Disruption to surgery 'will affect millions'

Covid: Disruption to surgery 'will affect millions' Disruption to surgery in England and Wales during the pandemic will continue to affect millions of patients for many years, researchers say.

Hospitals completed 1.5 million fewer surgical procedures in 2020 than would be expected from trends in previous years, a drop of about 33%, they say.

The NHS says the shortfall was "because fewer people came forward for care". BBC News

See also: 

• Surgical activity in England and Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide observational cohort study (open access) British Journal of Anaesthesia 
• Hospitals undertook 1.6m fewer operations last year because of Covid The Guardian
• Covid-19 pandemic 'led to 1.5 million NHS operations cancelled or postponed' iNews