NHS waiting list hits another new record as Rishi Sunak breaks his promise
The NHS waiting list in England has surged again despite Rishi Sunak pledging to cut the backlog.
Latest monthly data shows 7.75 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of August amid warnings the NHS is already running “red hot” before winter. Cancer patients are facing longer waits to be checked and treated while A&E waits and bed blocking also increased.
The overall waiting list was up by almost 100,000 last month despite the Prime Minister making cutting waiting lists one of his priorities for 2023. He pledged in January that "lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly". But far from cutting waits, lists are still growing to a level never seen before since records began in 2007.
Prof Peter Friend, vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “Increased demand, record staff vacancies and industrial action all continue to hold back recovery efforts. And that is before winter pressures hit. The Prime Minister’s key pledge of reducing the size of the waiting list by March 2024 is looking more and more in doubt.”
Some 8,998 people waited more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment, up from 7,289 at the end of July. The Government had promised to eliminate all waits of more than 18 months by April this year.
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Siva Anandaciva, Chief Analyst at The King’s Fund, said: “Today’s statistics show the NHS is running red hot as it enters the busy winter period. Despite the Prime Minister’s commitment to cut waiting lists, more and more people are now queuing for routine hospital care, with over 396,000 still waiting more than a year for the care they need.
“A&E departments have had a busy summer and are now facing a punishing winter, and the time taken for an ambulance to reach those people facing an emergency, such as for strokes, is now more than double the target of 18 minutes.”
Last month was the busiest ever September for A&E staff with 2.2 million attendances, up almost 8% on the same month last year, linked to a collapse in general practice and a lack of social care. Bed blocking was up 3% last month to 12,372 with continuing problems with social care meaning there is often nowhere safe to discharge elderly patients to.
Some 71.6% of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es last month, down from 73.0% in August. The figure hit a record low of 65.2% in December 2022. The NHS recovery plan sets a target of March 2024 for 76% of patients attending A&E to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.
The proportion of cancer patients who saw a specialist within two weeks of being referred urgently by their GP fell from 77.5% in July to 74.8% in August, remaining below the target of 93%. A total of 62.8% of cancer patients who had their first treatment in August after an urgent GP referral had waited less than two months, up slightly from 62.6% in July, NHS England figures show
The target is 85% and will remain one of the key cancer measures following the streamlining of performance standards from October onwards. Meanwhile, 71.6% of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days, down from 74.1% the previous month. The target is 75% and this will also remain beyond October.
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “All cancer waiting time targets have once again been missed in England despite the best efforts of NHS staff. Behind these figures are people waiting anxiously for a cancer diagnosis, and patients left uncertain about when they’ll get the treatment they urgently need. This is a stark legacy of decades of underfunding by the UK Government.”
The number of people at risk of heart failure on cardiac waiting lists has risen to a record high of 406,643 last month, up 3,850 on the previous month. There has been a 17% rise in people waiting for cardiac care since the end of August 2022.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “It never fails to shock me that with each month and each year, we continue to see record-breaking numbers of people waiting far too long for heart care. Long waits for time-sensitive heart care are dangerous - they increase the risk of life-changing disability due to heart failure, and can even cost lives.”
September was also the busiest month for ambulance services so far this year with 828,000 calls to 999 and a record September for the most serious ambulance incidents, with 78,000 category one callouts. September saw four days of industrial action, including the first ever joint action by junior doctors and consultants on September 20. Strike days since then have still not been reflected in the figures.
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Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “In light of current immense strain, ongoing industrial action must be resolved before the extreme pressures of winter hit. The current trajectory means if this does not happen the severity of patient outcomes and experiences over the winter months will be appalling.”
NHS England announced it has hit a target to set up 10,000 “virtual wards” last month meaning 240,000 patients have remained at home and monitored remotely. Patients with conditions such as COPD, heart failure or frailty conditions can now stay at home as part of the scheme, freeing up hospital beds.
Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s medical director, said: “We know that industrial action is also continuing to pile pressure on services and impact capacity adding a lot of pressure to hospitals before winter, coming on top of high levels of demand with last month seeing more 999 ambulance calls than any month this year as well as the busiest September ever for A&E attendances, up almost 8% on the same month last year.
“But despite this pressure, it is clear from today’s figures that NHS staff are working incredibly hard to deliver for patients with 10% more patients coming off the waiting list in August than the same month before the pandemic.”
The Tories are refusing to sit down for pay talks to resolve the ongoing industrial action with doctors. Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “While over a decade of under resourcing is the main underlying cause of this, industrial action means the NHS is often operating with one arm tied behind its back. These figures should give further impetus to all sides to reopen talks”
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “One in seven people in England are waiting for NHS treatment, in pain and discomfort. Many are unable to work, others will have undiagnosed conditions worsening while they wait.”
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