Seven million people are now on NHS elective waiting list

New NHS performance figures show that the elective waiting list is now over seven million people for the first time even though the NHS continues to make solid progress on patients who have been waiting the longest.

There are also record number of cancer checks with over 255,000 people checked following an urgent referral in August 2022, which is the highest number since records began, with over two million tests and checks being carries out in August for other medical reasons that month

The figures also show that demand for emergency care continue to be very high. Only 56.9% of A&E attendances were seen within four hours, compared to 76.1% for the same month in 2019, and ‘category 1’ ambulance call outs in September were a fifth higher than before the pandemic.

Only two in five patients discharged from hospital when medically fit

It also shows that only two in five patients are able to be discharged from hospital when they were medically fit in September, including due to problems with social care provision and access. This is an average of 13,300 beds a day occupied by patients who no longer need to be there.

Commenting on the latest figures, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation said: “Pressures on the NHS are sky high, yet these figures show that health leaders and their teams are putting in the hard work to drive down waiting times and ensure that patients get the urgent checks and tests they need.

“However, with waiting lists over 7 million for the first time and demand intensifying across emergency care, the NHS is still experiencing the aftershock of the pandemic and over 10,000 people in hospital have coronavirus. The NHS will continue to work at full pelt but there is no easy fix to filling its 132,000 vacancies or addressing the horrifying real-terms funding cut services continue to face.”

He added that while health leaders supported the government’s promise of a £500m fund to support hospitals to discharge patients safely and ensure they receive the support they need in the community, they are exasperated that not a penny of this has reached their services yet and they still don’t know when it will be released.

Public and patients who will suffer for broken promises

The Kings Fund said these figures who that services are facing a range of really serious challenges that impact on patients and the quality and timeliness of care they receive – including crumbling buildings and outdated equipment, long waiting lists for care, high levels of Covid-19 and growing staff shortages.

Siva Anandaciva, Chief Analyst at The King’s Fund, said: “Today’s figures lay bare these pressures. In September, there were nearly 33,000 emergency patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted to hospital, which is the highest number since records began. Meanwhile, people are waiting nearly 50 minutes for an ambulance despite the target being 18 minutes, and more than 13,500 people were stuck in hospital when they no longer need to be there, partly due to a lack of investment in social care. Data published today also shows that tackling the backlog of maintenance issues with NHS facilities and equipment, some of which present a high risk to patients and staff, has risen to over £10 billion.

“Successive governments’ refusal to confront the worsening health and care workforce crisis and their chronic underinvestment in NHS buildings and infrastructure has created this mix of problems.

“This winter, typical seasonal pressures on NHS services will be amplified by Covid-19 and a cost-of-living crisis that could impact on people’s physical and mental health. The government must acknowledge stark reality of the situation. If the current workforce and spending plans are the most the government is willing to offer, then there is little chance the health and care secretary’s Plan for Patients will be delivered. And sadly, it will be the public and patients who will suffer for those broken promises.”