Hospital waiting list is highest since 2007, figures show

THE NUMBER of people waiting longer than 18 weeks for hospital treatment in England is now almost 1.45m, the highest figure since 2007, figures show.

Data from NHS England shows people are facing long waits for cancer treatment to start while hundreds of thousands are waiting for diagnostic scans.

The number of people having to wait more than 18 weeks to start hospital treatment rose to 1,448,357 in May this year, the figures show.

This is more than double the number in May 2019 (576,237) and the highest number for any calendar month since December 2007.

Just 62.2 per cent of people were seen within 18 weeks, the records for May show, against a target of 95 per cent.

The number of people having to wait more than 52 weeks to start hospital treatment in England also jumped to 26,029 in May 2020, up from 1,032 in May 2019 and the highest number for any calendar month since September 2009.

On cancer care, the NHS missed its target for treatment to start, with just 69.9 per cent people beginning treatment within two months of GP referral – the lowest percentage since records began in October 2009. Some 106,535 urgent cancer referrals were made by GPs in England in May 2020, down from 200,599 in May 2019 – a fall of 47 per cent, with experts blaming the impact of Covid-19.

Dr Nick Scriven, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “Clearly NHS performance across the board continues to be hugely affected by Covid-19, though we must also remember performance has been poor for a lot longer than that and questions need to be answered as to how we ensure the sustainable future of the service.

“We are very concerned about the growing crisis in accessing diagnostic tests, with the total number of patients waiting six weeks or more from referral for one of the 15 key tests at almost 571,500 – 58.5 per cent of the total number of patients waiting – which is shocking given the target is one per cent.”

An NHS spokesman said: “Despite

responding rapidly to the coronavirus pandemic and the need to ensure over 100,000 patients could receive hospital care, NHS staff also provided more than five million urgent tests, checks and treatment in a safe way during the peak of the virus.

“The overall waiting list has fallen by more than half a million since the onset of Covid, but, as more patients come forward, local health services continue work to expand services safely.”