NHS waiting list for treatment continues to fall, figures show

The NHS waiting list for treatment continues to fall, new figures show.

The list in England has fallen for the third month in a row, with an estimated 7.25 million treatments waiting to be carried out at the end of January, relating to 6.13 million patients.

This is down from 7.29 million treatments and 6.17 million patients at the end of December and is the lowest level since February 2023, when it stood at 7.22 million.

The list hit a record high in September 2023, with 7.77 million treatments and 6.50 million patients.

NHS England said waiting lists were down despite the NHS seeing its busiest winter on record.

The Nuffield Trust think tank said the figures were a relief, “but the NHS is still some way off hitting the March goal of 65% of patients treated within 18 weeks”.

It also suggested sustaining the drop in the long term will be challenging.

The data released on Thursday shows a drop in people waiting more than a year, but a rise in those waiting over 18 months.

Some 135,657 people had been waiting more than a year to start routine hospital treatment at the end of January, down from 140,508 at the end of December.

This is the lowest figure for waits of more than a year since August 2020.

Meanwhile, 1,616 patients are estimated to have been waiting more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment at the end of January, up from 1,514 in December.

A year earlier, the number stood at 2,003.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “After years of rising waiting times, patients are finally starting to see things move in the right direction – with waiting lists at their lowest level for almost three years and more people getting treated within 18 weeks.

“Despite record demand this winter, A&E and ambulance services improved – meaning patients are getting help faster when they need it most, thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, better planning and modernisation.

“But we won’t take our foot off the gas. We’ll keep cutting waiting times, backing NHS staff and making sure patients get the high-quality care they deserve.”

Nuffield Trust deputy director of research Sarah Scobie said the figures “reveal the last-minute scramble the NHS is experiencing” as it tries to cut waiting lists by the March deadline.

She said: “Seeing the waiting list fall substantially for a few months in a row is a relief, but the NHS is still some way off hitting the March goal of 65% of patients treated within 18 weeks.

“Even if they get close to this through short bursts of improvement, it remains incredibly difficult to sustain this trend over longer periods.

“The health service has to ‘sprint’ to make sudden dents in the waiting list because money is spread too thinly across competing priorities for year-round progress.

“Patients will want to see waits getting consistently better, not just when there is a deadline looming.

“The sporadic improvements we see are not all about the NHS delivering more care.

“There was another uptick in ‘unreported removals’ from the waiting list in January, which includes tidying up the data as much as possible by removing patients who don’t need to be on there anymore.

“It’s a legitimate process, but the NHS and the Government need to be clear with the public if this plays a big role in getting the overall size of the list down, rather than attributing all the success to more treatment happening.

“The chances of the NHS meeting the target for only 22% of patients to wait more than four hours in A&E are now vanishingly small.

“There has been barely any progress on four hour waits compared with this time last year, and with the focus on this target, we must not lose sight of the horrendously long waits of over 12 hours which tens of thousands of patients are still facing every month.”

Tim Gardner, assistant director of policy at the Health Foundation, said: “Today’s data shows tentative signs of improvement across the health service after a gruelling winter, which should provide some relief for patients and staff.

“Achieving lasting improvements will require a concerted focus on addressing the root causes of delays, and a system-wide approach to recovery that prioritises investment, workforce resilience and long-term planning.”

NHS national medical director Professor Meghana Pandit said: “The NHS was ready to tackle winter head on this year, which is why despite facing record-breaking demand, staff have delivered the shortest winter waiting times for four years – while waiting lists have continued to fall.”