The number of people in England waiting to start hospital treatment has hit a record almost 7.5 million, new NHS data has revealed.
An estimated 7.47 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of May, up from 7.42 million in March. It is the highest number since records began in August 2007.
Of those 416,00 children are waiting to start treatment with 21,282 waiting for more than a year in May- up by 9.7 per cent the month prior.
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health president Camilla Kingdon has said it is “unacceptable” and “unfathomable” to have so many children waiting so long.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made cutting waiting lists one of his priorities for 2023, pledging in January that “lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly”.
However, hospital leaders warned on Thursday they are not confident they will hit key NHS targets to reduce the waiting list in 2024 and 2025.
The figures come during a five-day junior doctors’ strike during which tens of thousands of operations and appointments are expected to be cancelled and ahead of NHS consultants’ strikes where the major of planned care is expected to be paused.
In a letter to hospital leaders on Wednesday which said the British Medical Association has advised members that elective activity should not be scheduled during strike days and that trusts should plan for this.
The letter added: “The consultant strikes are different to previous rounds of industrial action involving other staff groups. No other worker can provide cover for consultants, and other staff groups are dependent upon supervision from consultants to be able to work.
“Almost no activity in a hospital can occur unless it is listed under and supervised by a named consultant. Non-consultant and non-medical staff should not be put in a position where they are asked to perform elective work where this is not under the direction of a named consultant or outside of their competencies.”
Earlier this year The Independent revealed the children’s waiting list had been growing at double the rate of adults with fears young people were being deprioritised.
Dr Kingdon said repsonding to the latest rise: “As a paediatrician I have seen firsthand the damaging impact that long waiting times have on children and their families. Many treatments and interventions must be administered within specific age or developmental stages – no one wants to wait for treatment, but children’s care is frequently ‘time critical’. As a college, we have consistently warned that prolonged waits not only impair children’s mental and physical development but also have a detrimental impact on their education and overall wellbeing. Long waits for treatment are unacceptable and 20,000 children waiting over a year is unfathomable.
“Each month we seeing steady progress being made in shrinking the adult backlog which we commend, but the children’s list continues to rise at an unprecedented rate.”
Of those on the waiting list, 385,022 patients have been waiting more than 52 weeks, up from 371,111 in April. The government earlier this year pledged to eliminate the number of patients waiting more than a year by March 2025.
Figures show around 30,600 cancer patients were waiting more than 62 days for a diagnosis and treatment.
Meanwhile, a total of 58.7 per cent of cancer patients who had their first treatment in May after an urgent GP referral had waited less than two months, down from 61 per cent in April, NHS England figures show. The target is 85 per cent.
Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, Michelle Mitchell, said: Today’s figures for England not only represent excruciating waits for already anxious patients, they also expose overstretched NHS services.
“The long-overdue workforce plan for England is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t address the long waits people face now. Action must be taken to retain staff, upgrade infrastructure and crucially, adequately fund NHS cancer services. Meanwhile, ongoing strike action continues to cause worry for patients, and we implore all parties to work together to ensure that services continue to operate for cancer patients.”
While waiting lists for planned care increased waiting times within A&E decreased slightly with 108,000 people in June waiting longer than 12 hours from arrival to be seen, treated or discharged compared to 118,000 the month prior.
Ambulance response times were slightly longer with average response time to category one patients, the most critical, hitting 8 minutes 41 seconds in June compared to 8 minutes 17 seconds.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “Every new month brings more evidence of record demand across many areas of NHS care with staff experiencing the busiest June ever for A&E attendances, no doubt exacerbated by the record high temperatures experienced for that month.
“Today we enter an incredibly challenging period of industrial action, with the longest junior doctor strike action so far followed by a consultant walk-out and the added impact of radiographers striking at the end of the month. So while staff will continue to work hard to provide patients with the care they need there is no doubt this period of action is likely to have the biggest impact yet.”
