Hospitals across South Yorkshire are struggling with increasing wait times as pressure mounts on emergency departments, elective surgeries, and outpatient appointments.
Data obtained through Freedom of Information requests reveals stark regional inequalities. In 2023, patients at Rotherham Hospital waited an average of 138 minutes in A&E—down from 182 minutes in 2022 but still far above pre-pandemic levels.
Kevin Hunt, a patient at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, in June 2023, said: “I was taken by ambulance, waited in it for 30 minutes, and then they asked me to walk to the waiting room from the ambulance park—all while I was in the middle of a heart attack—because they needed the ambulance back.”
He was eventually sent to a ward, but on the A&E side, he said, “Was terrible. The staff was fantastic, but I was left waiting three days for my operation. It felt like a joke.”
Doncaster Royal Infirmary reported over 6,800 patients waiting more than 12 hours in 2023, compared to just 97 at Barnsley. Barnsley Hospital has maintained an average A&E wait of just one hour since 2018.
NHS staff are working under immense pressure, facing increasing patient demands with limited resources, significantly affecting their ability to provide timely and effective care.
Courtney Davey, 26, a nurse, said: “NHS staff are working tirelessly to manage growing demand, but the system is under unprecedented strain. We are treating more patients than ever before with fewer resources, making it increasingly difficult to maintain the level of care patients need.”
Elective surgery delays have also surged. In Rotherham, patients faced an average 43-week wait in 2023, up from just 10 weeks in 2018.
Doncaster saw waits rise to 26 weeks, while Barnsley’s average dropped from 17 weeks in 2018 to 12 weeks in 2023.
Emma Carter, 32, a teacher from Rotherham, described her 30-week wait for ACL surgery as “unbearable.” She said, “The pain was bad enough, but the uncertainty worsened it. I had to stop coaching netball and even take time off work.”
“Every time I called, I was told to ‘hold on.’” While she praised the staff for their care, she said, “No one should have to wait that long to get their life back.”
The growing backlog is reflected in the number of patients awaiting treatment. In Rotherham, the waiting list for elective surgeries swelled from 9,866 patients in 2018 to 13,703 in 2023.
Doncaster’s list rose from 2,598 to 3,953 over the same period, while Barnsley showed a slight decrease, from 4,569 patients in 2022 to 4,234 in 2023.
Outpatient services are also under strain. In 2023, Rotherham patients waited an average of 12 weeks for appointments, while Doncaster averaged 10 weeks.
Barnsley, by contrast, reduced wait times from five weeks in 2018 to just two weeks in 2023.
However, the number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for appointments has risen significantly.
Rotherham’s numbers grew from 827 patients in 2022 to 1,288 in 2023, while Doncaster recorded 4,093 such patients, up sharply from previous years.
The COVID-19 pandemic heightened these pressures, with many services still recovering from the sharp increases in delays during 2020 and 2021.
Barnsley Hospital has steadily recovered, but Rotherham and Doncaster face significant backlogs. Delays across all departments continue to increase.
Addressing the growing backlog and improving resource allocation is critical to ensuring timely care for South Yorkshire’s patients.
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