NHS waiting list at its worst since 2025 as think tank says 18-week target will be missed
An estimated 7.37 million treatments were waiting at the end of August, the longest list since October 2025. The Health Foundation predicts that by 2029, 92 per cent of waits will be within 34.9 weeks, not the promised 18.
The waiting list for hospital treatment in England is at its worst since 2025, new NHS figures showed on Thursday, despite record levels of care being delivered. An estimated 7.37 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of August, relating to 6.24 million patients, up from 7.33 million treatments and 6.21 million patients at the end of July.
The list is the longest since October 2025, when it stood at 7.40 million treatments. At the end of August, an estimated 113,339 people had been waiting more than a year to start routine treatment, up from 111,379 a month earlier.
The Health Foundation said the Government is likely to fall a long way short of its pledge that 92 per cent of patients begin treatment within 18 weeks by the end of the parliament in 2029. Based on current activity, the think tank estimates that by July 2029, the latest date a general election can be called, 92 per cent of waits would instead be within 34.9 weeks. A rise in referrals, largely from GPs, is making the pledge increasingly hard to deliver, its analysis found.
Staff are already seeing the ominous early signs of pressure, with more patients coming to A&E with flu and other respiratory viruses than usual for this time of year.Professor Frankie Swords, NHS England
NHS England said a record 4.74 million planned treatments, procedures and appointments took place across June, July and August, more than in any previous summer. September was the busiest ever for accident and emergency attendances, with 2.44 million, and recorded the highest number of ambulance incidents ever for the month, at 806,707.
"NHS staff have done fantastic work to deliver record levels of elective care this summer," the NHS national medical director, Professor Frankie Swords, said. She added that staff were already seeing the ominous early signs of pressure, with more patients coming to A&E with flu and other respiratory viruses than usual for this time of year.
The Health Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: "Our NHS is dealing with summer pressures now as well as winter pressures." She said it was a huge tribute to doctors, nurses and staff that alongside unprecedented levels of A&E attendances and ambulance callouts, the NHS had still delivered record numbers of elective appointments, procedures and treatments.
NHS England warned that winter pressures were already building in September, with 94.9 per cent of acute hospital beds for adults occupied on average, up from 94.3 per cent in August. More than 13,600 adult patients a day were in hospital beds despite being medically fit for discharge.
Currently, around 65 per cent of patients in England are treated within 18 weeks. Professor Swords urged those eligible to take up flu, RSV and Covid vaccinations now rather than waiting for winter.
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