Michael Simmons Michael Simmons

NHS waiting list rises above worst-case scenario

The NHS crisis continues, with a set of data today showing that the extra cash invested by the Tories is not translating into progress. Those waiting 52 weeks for an operation climbed 5 per cent to 323,000. This is worse than the NHS worst-case scenario leaked to The Spectator and published on our NHS data hub. Here are some of the main points from today’s data release.


1. Those waiting more than a year for NHS hospital treatment rose by a further 17,000 to 323,000 – 5 per cent of all patients. This is already 50,000 above what had been expected had Omicron turned out to be mild (as was the case). The total number of people waiting for hospital treatment for any length of time reached 6.5 million – up 124,000 in a month in line with forecasts and on course for 9 million by the general election. Something that worries Tories seeking re-election. There was slightly better news for those suffering the longest waits: two-year waits fell by 24 per cent but still sit at nearly 13,000.



The extra cash invested by the Tories is not translating into progress

2. A&E activity is back to normal pre-pandemic volume – but the figures are being described as crisis level. Some 2.2 million people attended A&E, about where it was for most of 2019. And this is the issue: the figure is now being spoken of by the NHS as a new crisis level. The situation is as ‘challenging as any winter before the pandemic’ says Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s chief executive. But it’s summer. And why are things so challenging, if A&E volumes are back to normal? (Or, at least, normal since GP appointments became so hard to get that people now rock up to A&E?) Health chiefs are urging patients to use NHS 111 as a first port of call.


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