New NHS record broken as 7.4 million people waiting for routine treatment
By Lewis Denison, ITV News Westminster Producer
Another NHS waiting list record has been broken, with more people waiting for routine hospital treatment than at any time since the health service began collating figures.
An estimated 7.4 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of April, up from 7.3 million in March, NHS England said. It is the highest number since records began in August 2007.
The increase of around 100,000 people shows Rishi Sunak is still struggling to achieve his aim of cutting NHS waiting times before the next election.
NHS England stats show the PM is so far failing on his NHS aims
In January, the PM said "lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly”.
And he is so far failing on another metric too. The number of people waiting more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment had grown by more than 700 in just four weeks, the latest figures show.
The government and NHS England set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than 18 months by April of this year, excluding exceptionally complex cases or patients who choose to wait longer.
But at the end of April, some 11,477 people were waiting 18 months, up from 10,737 at the end of March.
Despite the prime minister making the aim of cutting NHS waiting times one of his five priorities, the latest NHS England stats paint a worrying picture for anyone needing healthcare in England.
Cancer waiting times across the NHS in England have also got worse
The stats show 61.0% of cancer patients who had their first treatment in April after an urgent GP referral had waited less than two months for treatment to start.
This is down from 63.5% in March. The target is 85%.
Meanwhile, the proportion of cancer patients who saw a specialist within two weeks of being referred urgently by their GP fell from 83.9% in March to 77.7% in April, remaining below the 93% target and the lowest figure since September 2022.
The 93% target was last hit in May 2020, during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Elsewhere, 71.3% of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days, down from 74.2% the previous month.
The NHS elective recovery plan sets a goal of March 2024 for 75% of patients who have been urgently referred by their GP for suspected cancer to be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days.
Overall, some 218,060 urgent cancer referrals were made by GPs in England in April, down month-on-month (by 16% compared with March 2023) but up year-on-year (by 2% compared with April 2022).
7% more people were referred for urgent cancer checks in the year to April, though the data shows they are having to wait longer to be seen or treated.
Meanwhile, a group of leading radiographers have warned cancer patients face worsening NHS delays and the prospect of more gruelling treatment due to too few staff.
A poll of all 60 directors of the UK’s cancer centres by the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) found 95% felt staff shortages were leading to longer waiting times for appointments and delays in cancer treatment.
Dr Katharine Halliday, RCR president, said: “There are simply not enough doctors to safely treat the volume of patients needed, and this will only worsen as demand rises and more doctors leave the NHS.
“Action from the government is now critical. We must train more doctors, while doing more to retain the ones we have. There is no luxury of time: doctors are stretched, stressed, and scared for their patients.”
Hundreds of thousands of patients are still waiting over a year for treatment
The number of people waiting more than a year to start routine hospital treatment grew by 11,313, in the most recent month, showing the government has a long way to go before achieving its ambition of eliminating all waits of more than 52 weeks by March 2025.
A total of 371,111 people in England had been waiting more than 52 weeks to start routine hospital treatment at the end of April - up from 359,798 at the end of March.
And the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England from a decision to admit to actually being admitted stood at 31,494 in May, up 17% from 26,899 in April.
Is anything getting better?
NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis did point to some success, however, explaining that "average waits for people on the waiting list dropped to just under 14 weeks – the lowest it’s been since before winter".
He also said that "more than ever before getting checked and starting treatment" for cancer.
The health service boss said the NHS is "continuing to see high levels of demand across urgent and emergency care", adding that increases in waiting times were expected.
"We knew the overall waiting list would continue to increase for a time as people who may have put off coming forward for care over the past few years of the pandemic sought help, and that demand would be reflected in other areas as well."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Cutting waiting lists is one of the government’s top five priorities, and the NHS has reduced the number of patients waiting for more than 18 months by over 91% since the September 2021 peak and virtually eliminated two-year waits for treatment, despite more people coming forward for treatment. “There are more doctors, nurses and staff working in the NHS than ever before which has led to a record number of cancer patients being treated over the last two years - and in April there were a record number of diagnostic tests carried out per working day.
“Our Elective and Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plans will deliver one of the fastest and longest sustained improvements in waiting times in NHS history, and we have made up to £14.1 billion available for health and social care over the next two years, on top of record funding.”
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