NHS England waiting list falls for first time this year

The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England fell in October for the first time this year, according to figures released on Thursday, as the health service braces for one of its most testing winter periods.

Patients were waiting for almost 7.71mn appointments, down from a record 7.77mn in September, according to NHS England data.

The data offer a small reprieve for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who earlier this year made cutting waiting lists one of his five key priorities ahead of the general election expected next year.

However, a number of important targets are still being missed, the figures showed. Some 69.7 per cent of patients were seen within four hours in accident and emergency departments, well short of the target of 95 per cent and down from 70.2 per cent the previous month.

The number of people waiting more than 18 months for an appointment in October was 10,506, up from 10,201, underlining the health service’s continued failure to meet an ambition to eliminate all 18-month waits by April this year.

Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents health organisations across England, said the reduction of the elective waiting list had provided “the glimmer of hope we all needed”. 

But, he cautioned, “there is no room for complacency as we plunge into winter, the hardest time of year for NHS”.

Meanwhile, figures published on Thursday revealed the NHS in England is facing an £11.6bn maintenance backlog, ratcheting up pressure on Sunak to deliver more money to repair the health service’s dilapidated buildings. 

More than half of the backlog relates to buildings classed as posing either a “high” or “significant” risk to patients and staff, at a cost of £2.36bn. 

A wave of strikes across the NHS since December 2022 has added to the strain already faced by the health service over the winter months and led to the cancellation of 1.2mn operations and appointments.

Junior doctors in England are due to stage a fresh round of strikes lasting nine days in December and January, after failing to reach an agreement with the government to secure a better pay offer.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, told the BBC on Thursday that more than 1,700 additional paramedics and ambulance support staff have been recruited to help alleviate the pressure on A&E departments this winter, which are currently under huge strain.

Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said: “People can no longer trust the NHS will be there for us in an emergency.”

Responding to the latest waiting list figures, Powis described the overall waiting list for elective care coming down as “excellent” progress.

However, he said the service was facing a “challenging winter on a number of fronts, with the number of patients in hospital with flu and norovirus increasing considerably each week, continued issues discharging patients who are medically fit due to a lack of social care capacity, and another period of industrial action ahead of the Christmas bank holidays”.