Record number of patients waiting 18 weeks for NHS treatment, new figures show

NHS waiting lists for routine hospital treatment are now the longest since records began, new figures show, with referrals for urgent cancer treatment also falling by 20 per cent in June.

The number of people waiting longer than 18 weeks for routine hospital treatment was more than 1.85 million in June – the highest since records began in December 2007.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is still taking its toll on Britain's health system , with urgent cancer referrals also down and A&E attendances in July falling 30 per cent compared to last year's figures.

In May, 1,448,357 patients waited longer than the 18-week target to begin hospital treatment, the highest for any calendar month since December 2007 and more than double the 576,237 a year ago.

But new figures released by NHS England on Thursday show the number of patients waiting longer than this target now stands at more than 1.85 million, representing 52 per cent of all patients waiting to start treatment.

A small number of trusts did not submit data, or the information was incomplete, but NHS England said that, factoring in estimates based on the latest data submitted for each missing trust, the total number of patients waiting to start treatment at the end of June may have been four million.

The data also shows that the number of people waiting more than a year to start hospital treatment in England rose to 50,536, up from 1,089 in June last year and the highest number for any calendar month since February 2009.

The number of patients admitted for routine treatment in hospitals in England was down 67 per cent in June compared to a year ago. A total of 94,354 patients were admitted for treatment during the month, down from 289,203 the year before.

NHS England figures also show that a total of 153,134 urgent cancer referrals were made by GPs in England in June 2020, down from 194,047 in June 2019 – a drop of 21 per cent. This is the number of people referred to a cancer consultant by a GP for a first appointment.

Urgent breast cancer referrals showed an even bigger drop, down from 14,885 in June 2019 to 8,495 in June 2020, a fall of 43 per cent.

The figures are "worryingly low" and suggest "an alarming backlog of undiagnosed cancer" as well as a growing number of people yet to start treatment, warned Sara Bainbridge, head of policy and influence at Macmillan Cancer Support.

"This could directly impact on many of these people's chances of survival," she said. "To ensure services are able to catch up, we need the Government to deliver the recovery plan promised and continue to address the scale of the challenge by securing more staffing and resources."

In response to the figures, an NHS spokesman said 92 per cent of urgent cancer referrals have been investigated within two weeks and 85,000 people have started cancer treatment since the beginning of the pandemic.

"More people are now coming forward for a cancer check, with 45,000 extra referrals this month, and the key point remains that anyone who is concerned about a possible symptom should contact their GP and get a check-up," the spokesman said.

But experts have warned that NHS performance remains "poor and concerning". Dr Nick Scriven, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: "These are worrying times for the NHS given the threat of a second wave of Covid-19 in addition to all of the other pre-existing issues such as bed capacity, staffing, funding and social care provision.

"Performance remains poor and concerning and, with what we know will be a challenging winter ahead, it will take more than a token cash injection announced by the Prime Minister this week to make up for years of neglect."

"With four million people waiting to start treatment and 52 per cent waiting up to 18 weeks – far short of the 92 per cent standard – there is significant concern this combination will lead to many more people requiring more urgent treatment down the line when conditions have deteriorated."

In March, A&E attendances were at the lowest point since records began, but the new figures for July do not signal a significant improvement.

A total of 1.53 million people went to an A&E department in March, compared to 2.17 million in 2019, while emergency admissions were also down 23 per cent to 427,921. In July, 1,589,194 people attended A&E compared to 2,265,050 in the same month last year, a 30 per cent fall.

Emergency admissions to A&E departments at hospitals in England also showed a fall last month, down 15 per cent from 554,069 in July 2019 to 472,646 in July 2020.

"A&E attendance remains much lower than last year yet even with the decreased numbers the four-hour target was not met, showing just how hard hit processes have been in this new era," Dr Scriven added.