As the pandemic eases, our latest investigations look at how different services can start to recover from lost treatment time.

Katherine Hignett’s in-depth look at electives includes exclusive analysis and charts that identify the health systems most affected – those with the largest share of their population on the elective waiting list, and the share who have waited a very long time.

Ben Clover’s briefing on cancer services notes reversals of progress made in mortality from breast, colorectal and lung cancers, and NHS England’s admission that activity won’t return to pre-covid levels until April 2022. Ben also looks at where backlogs are the highest, and which patient groups have been hardest hit.

Focusing on mental health services in London, Jack Serle says that activity fell but so did capacity, with wards hived off to care for covid positive patients and staff shortages caused by redeployment or sickness. He explains how providers had to reorganise themselves to deal with the direct and indirect effects of covid, and how these new ways of working are being refined and maintained.

Soberingly, he notes a rising tide of mental health issues among children and young people.

Latest investigation       

This week the following investigation was updated:

National briefing: Hospital workforce during covid recovery

The NHS workforce has been under more strain over the last 14 months than any other time since the service’s inception.

Cambridge University Hospitals Foundation Trust

The cornerstone of the trust’s mid-term recovery plan is a series of temporary units which will create 120 beds of additional capacity when they are all open. CUH is developing several major capital projects to address its capacity shortages and attempt to future-proof services. These include a rebuild of the main hospital, a new children’s hospital to serve the eastern region and a new specialist cancer hospital.

National briefing: Mental Health

Prior to the pandemic the NHS mental health sector had just begun to implement the NHS long-term plan. However, despite the fact the sector was not at the centre of the storm, covid-19 has certainly had a significant impact on national and local plans.

Data

This week the following data has been updated:

• % Domain rated good or outstanding, % sites rated good or outstanding, % sites rated well led, Number of Sites, Number of Sites rated by CQC, Sites rated good, inadequate, outstanding and requires improvement of Private providers in Q1 2021-22
• Trust rated inadequate by CQC of STP in Q4 2020-21
• CQC Rating of Acute, SP, MH, Com, Amb in Q1 2021-22
• EIP waiting time performance (Early intervention Waits) of MH in Q4 2020-21