NHS waiting list rises for third consecutive month

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said ’14 years of Conservative neglect left the NHS broken’.

There was a sharp decline in the number of people waiting the longest to start treatment (PA) (PA Wire)

NHS waiting lists have risen for the third month in a row, new figures have revealed.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the numbers confirm that “14 years of Conservative neglect left the NHS broken” and vowed to work “night and day to get the NHS back on its feet”.

However, there was a sharp decline in the number of people waiting the longest to start treatment.

An estimated 7.62 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of June in England, relating to 6.39 million patients – up slightly from 7.60 million treatments and 6.37 million patients at the end of May.

Some 2,621 patients had been waiting more than 18 months to start routine treatment, down sharply from 4,597 in May.

The number of people waiting more than 65 weeks rose slightly to 58,024 in June from 55,955 in the previous month.

Those waiting more than 52 weeks fell to 302,693 from 307,500.

Mr Streeting said: “These figures confirm that 14 years of Conservative neglect left the NHS broken, waiting lists rising, and patients failed. Never again should the Conservatives be trusted with our health service.

“It will take time to turn the NHS around. But we are working night and day to get the NHS back on its feet, so it can once again be there for us all when we need it.”

The Government and NHS England set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than 18 months by April 2023, excluding exceptionally complex cases or patients who choose to wait longer.

The target of ending waits of more than 65 weeks is now September 2024, having previously been March 2024, while the target for ending all waits of more than a year is March 2025.

The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments from a decision to admit to actually being admitted stood at 36,806 in July, down from 38,106 in June, figures show.

The number waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission rose slightly, from 128,114 to 129,330.

Some 75.2% of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es last month, up from 74.6% in June and the highest level since September 2021.

The NHS recovery plan set a target of March this year for 76% of patients attending A&E to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

Nobody in the NHS wants to see patients experiencing long delays and we are committed to working with the Government to create a 10-year plan for health that includes a clear plan to bring waits down

Prof Sir Stephen Powis

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “A&E staff are under significant pressure and the NHS is in the middle of what could be its busiest summer ever, with a total of 4.6 million attendances in the last two months alone and 2024 now having seen the three busiest months for A&E on record.

“While we have seen improvements in the number of patients seen and treated within four hours in A&E, slightly faster ambulance response times, and more than three quarters of cancer patients receiving an all clear or diagnosis in four weeks, it is clear that waits for patients across a range of services remain unacceptable and there is much more to do to deliver more timely care for those who need it.

“Nobody in the NHS wants to see patients experiencing long delays and we are committed to working with the Government to create a 10-year plan for health that includes a clear plan to bring waits down.”

Reacting to the data, Danielle Jefferies, senior analyst at think tank The King’s Fund, said: “These figures are a stark reminder that the pressure in the NHS is not going away as it grapples with ongoing industrial action, tight public finances, and a rise in the number of beds occupied by patients with Covid-19.

“This is worrying because the NHS should be working now to prepare for winter, but instead providers are using their time and money to tackle immediate pressures.

“The new Government will need to be clear on how it will support the NHS and patients going into a difficult winter and will face difficult decisions on how to recover NHS performance.”

In cancer care, some 76.3% of patients urgently referred in June were diagnosed or had the disease ruled out within 28 days.

This is down very slightly from 76.4% the previous month but is above the target of 75%, which has only been exceeded four times since it was introduced in autumn 2021.

GPs in England made 259,681 urgent cancer referrals in June, down from 270,583 in May and also down year-on-year from 261,191 in June 2023.

The proportion of patients waiting no longer than 62 days from an urgent suspected cancer referral or consultant upgrade to their first definitive treatment for cancer was 67.4%, up from 65.8% in May but below the target of 85%.

Louise Ansari, chief executive at Healthwatch England, added:“We are concerned that the progress made in speeding up both cancer diagnosis and the commencement of cancer treatment in recent months is slowing.

“Despite some progress on the referral to treatment target, the NHS is still falling well short of its operational target that 85% of patients wait less than two months between an urgent referral and treatment commencing.

“Urgent action is required to ensure that timely cancer diagnosis and treatment becomes the norm for all patients in England.”