Rishi Sunak’s pledge to cut NHS waiting lists hit fresh trouble on Thursday as the number of people in England waiting to start routine hospital treatment rose to a new record high.
An estimated 7.6 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of June, up by more than 100,000 from May, NHS England data showed. That is the highest number since records began in August 2007.
The Prime Minister has promised to cut waiting lists as one of five flagship pledges, pledging in January that “lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly”.
But Mr Sunak did not commit to a timeframe, and last month said that industrial action across the NHS was making the task “more challenging” with hospitals already dealing with the after-effects of the Covid pandemic.
He is also struggling to deliver on the other pledges, including stopping boatloads of migrants crossing the Channel and reviving the economy, with GDP data on Friday expected to show that growth continues its struggle to recover from the pandemic and Brexit.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Labour’s shadow minister for mental health, said the NHS figures underlined that patients are waiting “in pain and discomfort for months or even years”.
“Rishi Sunak has no plan to turn this around, he only offers excuses. He blames hard-working doctors and nurses, yet he hasn’t lifted a finger to stop the strikes,” she said.
But a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are making progress to deliver on our priority to cut waiting lists and ensure people get the care they need quicker.
“We have virtually eliminated 18-month waits and are taking action to bring down waits of over a year – including reducing the number of people requiring follow-up appointments.
“It’s encouraging to see improved ambulance response times, despite record A&E attendances and demand for July. We are working to get 800 new ambulances on the road, create 5,000 extra hospital beds and scale up virtual wards as part of our Urgent and Emergency Care plan to further reduce waiting times.”
The new health figures were released after the NHS announced that patients affected by backlogs could skip the queue at their local hospital if they are willing to travel to other parts of England.
It is extending the use of a “matching platform” where patients are “matched” with providers of the service they need outside their local area.
The system was initially launched in January for patients needing a hospital admission, but will now include cancer, diagnostic checks and outpatient appointments.
The Government meanwhile last week announced 13 new community diagnostic centres would be opened across England to carry out an additional 742,000 scans, checks and tests per year, and it is increasingly turning to the private sector in a bid to cut the NHS waiting lists.
Eight of the new facilities will be operated by the private sector, although services will be free to patients, and five will be run by the NHS.
Other NHS England data offered more positive news for the Government. A total of 383,083 people were waiting more than a year to start routine hospital treatment at the end of June, down slightly from 385,022 at the end of May.
The figures also showed that 7,177 people were estimated to have been waiting more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment in England at the end of June, down from 11,446 at the end of May.
The Government and NHS England are targeting the elimination of all waits of more than a year by March 2025.
But the overall waiting list for routine hospital treatment is heading towards a staggering eight million, Health Minister Maria Caulfield indicated last week
