At the end of July, a total of 6.8 million people were waiting to start treatment, according to NHS England. That was up from 6.7 million in June and is the highest number since records began in August 2007. Of these, 377,689 waited more than 52 weeks to start hospital treatment. That was up from 355,774 at the end of June. Waiting lists in England The Government and NHS England have set an ambition to eliminate all waiting times of more than a year by March 2025. A total of 2,885 people in England were waiting more than two years to start routine hospital care at the end of July, according to NHS England. This was down from 3,861 at the end of June and a peak of 23,778 in January 2022. Ministers and NHS England wanted to eliminate all waiting times of more than two years, except where it was the patient’s choice or for complex cases requiring specialist treatment, by July this year. There was a fall in the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments between the decision to admit and actual admission, although the figures were still close to record levels. The data showed 28,756 people waited more than 12 hours in August, down from a record 29,317 in July, but still the second-highest number reported for any calendar month in records dating back to August 2010. The number waiting at least four hours for an admission decision rose to 130,528 in August, up from 136,221 the previous month. A&E presentations More details soon…
