Nearly 32,000 people back on NHS waiting list

Nearly 32,000 people have recovered from the UK's NHS waiting list for treatment in October.

Latest data shows there were 7,541,373 treatment pathways awaiting completion in October, up from 7,573,212 in September.

Because some patients have multiple pathways, the unique number of patients is estimated at approximately 6.3 million.

Of the 7.5 million people, 234,885 patients have been waiting for more than a year, 20,930 patients have been waiting more than 65 weeks, 2,446 patients have been waiting more than 78 weeks, and 2 weeks. There are 148 cases waiting. year.

In 58.9% of cases, patients had waited up to 18 weeks and therefore did not meet the 92% criteria.

During October 2024, 1,907,643 new RTT pathways were initiated, 339,789 pathways were completed as a result of inpatient care, and 1,328,807 were completed by other methods (non-hospitalized).

For the pathway where patients were waiting to start treatment at the end of October 2024, the median wait time was 14.2 weeks and the 92nd percentile wait time was 42.4 weeks.

10 year target not achieved

The Health Foundation's deputy director for policy, Tim Gardner, said the figures highlight the scale of the challenge the Government must overcome to meet the 18-week standard for routine hospital care within this parliament. Ta.

“While there has been encouraging progress in recent months, the 18-week goal has not been met for nearly a decade,” Gardner said.

“October's waiting list remains stubbornly close to record levels, with more than 234,000 people waiting for more than 12 months.

“The NHS is facing a very difficult winter and it will be very difficult to make any further progress in the coming months.

“The government cannot afford to ignore the performance of other parts of the health and care system.

“Early outbreaks of influenza and other seasonal viruses are straining hospital capacity.

“Also, while A&E waiting times have improved significantly compared to last year, more than 45,000 patients still waited more than 12 hours to be admitted on A&E trolleys in November.

“While the government is focused on developing a 10-year plan for the health service, the problem is that there is no plan for social care.

“On an average day in November, more than 12,000 patients who were ready to be discharged from hospital do not, many of whom require social care support.

“Perhaps after a tough winter, the government's long-term focus should be on rebuilding the health of the population and tackling the serious health disparities between regions of the country.

“This is essential not only to delivering the government's health mission, but also to achieving the government's goals of putting more people to work and boosting economic growth.”

an important hill to climb

David Hare, CEO of the Independent Health Provider Network (IHPN), said the latest data shows the government must climb to ensure it once again meets the NHS's 18-week target. He said this shows there is a “significant mountain”.

“Achieving this target will not be easy, but IHPN analysis shows that to be able to see 92% of patients within 18 weeks, NHS-wide activity would need to immediately increase by around 21% of current levels. It turns out there's a need. It's tough but achievable,” Halle said.

“Independent healthcare providers have already removed more than a million people from NHS waiting lists this year, and collectively we can remove even more people.

“The sector has an estimated 90,000 appointment slots available each month, which are currently not being used by the NHS.

“Just by tackling this, the number of patients treated in the independent sector would increase by 20%, going a long way to getting the NHS back on track and improving access.”

tough winter

Daniel Jeffries, senior analyst at King's Fund, said the situation for the NHS was “extremely challenging” in what looks to be a very difficult winter.

“Levels of influenza and other respiratory illnesses have already risen significantly, putting pressure on services and causing significant ambulance delays, with 95% of hospital beds occupied and this are well above levels considered safe,” Jeffries said.

“With hospitals in dire straits, ministers are right to reiterate that patient safety must be the top priority, and local leaders and staff are acutely aware of this. That's probably true.

“The thorny issue is that the health service is currently struggling to keep patients safe in A&E over the winter, meet the 18-week waiting time target by the end of this parliament, and meet the long-term goal of moving more care. “It's a long list of priorities that we have to go through, to get involved in the community and focus more on prevention.”

“With so many priorities to juggle and very tight financial constraints, local leaders need to make decisions about upcoming annual plans for NHS services to support the difficult conversations and trade-offs that are already taking place. They will want clarity in their planning guidance.

“Winter pressures will impact every part of the NHS and social care.

“How a health service is run cannot be measured solely by what happens in the hospital. A true assessment must take into account the care that patients require from the community and primary care services. Many people struggle to access GP appointments and are unable to receive the social care support they need.

“Performance targets need to be revisited more broadly to focus on these services and drive much-needed health service reform.”