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The NHS waiting list for non-urgent treatment in England has risen by 33,000 dealing a blow to Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s pledge to significantly cut delays during this Parliament.
An estimated 7.40 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of July, relating to 6.25 million patients, up from 7.37 million treatments and 6.23 million patients at the end of June, official figures reveal.
It is the second month in a row that the figure has risen. The list hit a record high in September 2023, with 7.77 million treatments and 6.50 million patients.
Some 1,429 patients in England had been waiting more than 18 months to start routine treatment at the end of July, up from 1,103 in June. A year earlier, in July 2024, the number stood at 2,738.
There were 11,950 patients who had been waiting more than 65 weeks to start treatment, up from 10,517 the previous month. This figure stood at 50,860 in July 2024.
Last year, Streeting said the Government’s plan for change committed it to cutting waiting lists from 18 months to 18 weeks by the end of this Parliament through a combination of investment and reform. Despite numbers falling steadily for several months at the start of the year, the latest figures highlight just how far the Health Secretary has to go to meet his target.
However, officials pointed out that the latest monthly rise was lower than in any July over the last 10 years – and despite the five days of resident doctor strikes from 25-30 July. The NHS also said it had delivered a record number of cancer checks and treatment starts in July in the face of industrial action.
A total of 191,648 people in England had been waiting more than 52 weeks to start routine hospital treatment at the end of July, down slightly from 191,813 at the end of June, the latest figures show. Some 2.6 per cent of people on the list for hospital treatment had been waiting more than 52 weeks in July, unchanged from the previous month.
The Government and NHS England have set a target of March 2026 for this figure to be reduced to less than 1 per cent.
Professor Frank Smith, vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “Today’s figures highlight a system struggling to meet demand. Too few operating theatres and crumbling hospital buildings are leading surgeons to have to compete for space, directly contributing to delays and leaving patients waiting for the care they need.
“Modernising NHS infrastructure must be a government priority. The Chancellor must commit substantial capital funding for the NHS in the upcoming Autumn Budget.”
Both four and 12-hour A&E waits have worsened as well. Some 75.9 per cent of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es last month, down from 76.4 per cent in July.
The Government and NHS England have set a target of March 2026 for 78 per cent of patients attending A&E to be admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours.
The number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England from a decision to admit to actually being admitted, so-called “corridor care”, stood at 35,909 in August, up slightly from 35,467 in July. The number waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission also rose slightly, standing at 115,826 in August, up from 115,542 in July.
Executive Director of RCN England Patricia Marquis said the figures show England is “quickly headed towards a worse corridor care disaster than last year”.
She said: “Nursing staff have repeatedly warned about the crisis in our hospitals, but now the numbers enduring long waits has skyrocketed year on year, rising further before the cold weather is even here. Ministers need to act to protect patients this winter.”
A record 236,263 people got a cancer diagnosis or the disease ruled out within 28 days in July – meeting the Faster Diagnosis Standard – while 21,633 patients started cancer treatment within 62 days, the highest since the standard was introduced in October 2023.
However, only half of people with cancer are diagnosed on time following urgent NHS referral, and for some cancers this drops to less than a third, a Cancer Research UK report published today reveals.
Between October 2021 and June 2024, 53.8 per cent of people who had cancer were diagnosed within 28 days compared with 71.7 per cent for those who had cancer ruled out. For all patients on the pathway combined, 70.6 per cent received an outcome within 28 days.
The study identified that for people being diagnosed with cancer, things have actually been getting worse over time. In the last three months of 2021, 57.3 per cent of diagnoses were given within 28 days, but this fell to 52.3 per cent by the middle of 2024.
A separate report has found progress in ovarian cancer care has “completely stalled”. A national audit into the disease revealed that about four in ten women (41 per cent) in England and Wales were only diagnosed after their symptoms were so severe that they sought emergency care in hospital.
Ovarian Cancer Action said there are a number of factors at play, including women having symptoms dismissed or misdiagnosed, and low awareness of symptoms.
NHS busier than ever
In the year to June, the NHS delivered a total of 5.2 million additional operations, appointments and tests compared to the year before. Officials said that while the waiting list rose, staff delivered almost 3 per cent more treatments than July 2024. Around 5 per cent more patients joined the waiting list.
Streeting said: “One year ago, I made a promise that we would deliver two million extra appointments in our first year – not only did we do this in just five months, but we have obliterated that target, carrying out over five million.
“That is testament to the relentless efforts of NHS staff across the country, alongside key reforms to get waiting times down for patients. Our 10 Year Health Plan will go even further, driving care out of our busy hospitals and into local communities as we deliver the radical transformation required to fix our broken health service.”
The latest figures also reveal urgent and emergency services faced their busiest August ever with 2.3 million A&E attendances and 775,330 ambulance callouts – up 5 per cent and 6 per cent respectively on the year before. The average response time for Category 2 incidents, such as heart attacks and strokes, was the fastest for more than four years – since May 2021 – at 27 minutes 3 seconds.
NHS England recently adjusted the target time for Category 2 callouts from 18 minutes to 30 minutes.
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS national medical director, said: “Industrial action in the NHS is never easy for patients, but despite last month’s disruption record number of cancer patients got the care they needed.
“While urgent ambulance response times were the fastest they’ve been in over four years – even as A&E and ambulance staff saw more patients in August than ever before. These results show the NHS is always there for patients — no matter what is thrown its way.”
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