The NHS has said that England has hit a record high waiting list with almost 6.4 million people.
Since August 2007, England had reached a new record high in February 2022 of 6.2 million.
According to NHS figures, the average response time in April for ambulances dealing with urgent incidents was 9 minutes and 2 seconds, less than the longest average of 9 minutes and 35 seconds in August 2007.
In March, the NHS reached some extreme waiting lists, with over 16,500 people waiting for more than two years to begin routine hospital treatment.
By July, the NHS and the government’s ambition is to eliminate waits of more than two years unless the patient chooses.
Record numbers show people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E
In April, roughly 24,138 people had to wait for over 12 hours in A&E departments in England. In A&E last month, 72.3% of people were seen within 4 hours. This is an improvement from March, where we only saw 71.6% of people being seen within 4 hours.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t reach the operational standard, which is 95% of patients being seen within 4 hours. This statistic hasn’t been met since 2015, so this was the case pre-covid.
306,000 people waiting for more than a year for hospital treatment
Over 306,000 people are waiting more than 52 weeks to begin their hospital treatment in England, a rising number. The NHS and Government have eliminated all waits over a year by 2025.
Record cancer referrals
According to the NHS, March was seen to have record cancer referrals. According to NHS England, there is a 40% increase in the number of checks in England.
Hardworking Teams making strong progress
The NHS is working hard to tackle all the rising wait times. They are making progress, and there are many targets to meet. This may be the most ambitious catch-up plan in NHS history, but the figures are already beginning to drop. For example, fewer people are now waiting over 18 months to be seen for routine treatment.
The NHS will always have a lot of pressure on them, but the figures do show progress.
