In a concerning development, the National Health Service (NHS) in England has witnessed an alarming surge in waiting lists, hitting an all-time high. Recent data reveals that 7.75 million individuals were waiting to commence treatment by the end of August, marking a steady increase from the 7.68 million recorded in July. This figure stands as the highest since records began in August 2007, despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s commitment to reducing waiting lists.
One significant factor contributing to the prolonged waits is the ongoing strikes by doctors, which the government acknowledges as having a substantial impact on the NHS’s ability to alleviate the situation. As a result, the strikes have led to the rescheduling of approximately 10,000 outpatient appointments by hospital trusts.
Moreover, the data discloses that 8,998 people in England were awaiting routine hospital treatment for over 18 months by the end of August, a considerable rise from the 7,289 reported in July. It is essential to note that the government and NHS England aimed to eliminate any waits beyond 18 months by April this year, excluding complex cases and patients who voluntarily choose to wait longer.
Additionally, the statistics highlight that 396,643 individuals in England were waiting for routine hospital treatment for over 52 weeks as of the end of August, reflecting an increase from the 389,952 recorded in July. The ambition now is to eradicate all waits exceeding one year by March 2025.
Further data reveals that the number of individuals waiting for more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England, from the decision to admit until actual admission, reached 33,107 in September. Although this reflects a 15% rise from August’s figure of 28,859, it remains lower than the alarming 54,573 recorded in December 2022.
Similarly, the number of individuals waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to actual admission increased from 120,120 in August to 125,829 in September, representing a 5% surge. In terms of A&E performance, 71.6% of patients in England were seen within four hours last month, a slight decline from August’s 73%.
To address these challenges, the NHS recovery plan aims to achieve a target of 76% of patients attending A&E being admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours by March 2024.
Regarding cancer care, the data emphasises that the number of patients in England waiting longer than 62 days since an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer rose to 23,809 in the week ending September 3, up from 21,016 in the week ending August 6. Notably, the majority of these patients do not have cancer but are awaiting diagnostic tests, while approximately one in seven do have cancer and are awaiting treatment.
In response, the government and NHS England have set an ambitious goal of returning this figure to pre-pandemic levels, which averaged at 13,463 per week, by March this year. The data also indicates that 62.8% of cancer patients who received their first treatment in August following an urgent GP referral had waited less than two months, slightly up from 62.6% in July. The target for this metric is 85%.
