Creating a new NHS England: Health Education England, NHS Digital and NHS England have merged. Learn more.
Elective care
NHS cuts longest waits and speeds-up response times
The head of the NHS in England has hailed the ‘great strides’ the health service is making, as new figures show major improvements across long waits, urgent and emergency services, and cancer care. The number of patients waiting more than 18 months fell to just 10,737 by April – down by more than 90% from […]
NHS slashes longest elective and cancer waits for patients
The number of people waiting over 18 months for NHS care has fallen again despite continued demand for services, new figures show today. Thanks to the efforts of NHS staff across the country, the number of patients waiting more than 18 months for care has fallen by more than four fifths since the peak. Latest […]
NHS continues to make huge strides reducing waits for patients despite winter pressures
The number of people waiting longest for routine care has fallen, despite hospitals having to contend with high levels of winter viruses and strike action, new figures show today. Thanks to the hard work of staff, the NHS is making significant progress against its elective recovery plan, with the number of people waiting over 18 […]
NHS cuts elective backlog with longest waiters down a quarter in one month
NHS staff across England have reduced the number of patients waiting more than a year and a half by over a quarter in just one month, despite the busiest winter ever. The total number waiting more than 18 months has fallen by 27% from 54,382 on 15 January to 39,903 as of 12 February. Over […]
Hundreds of thousands more patients to benefit from major NHS surgical capacity boost
Hundreds of thousands more patients will benefit from NHS treatment by next year thanks to dozens of new surgical spaces, the NHS announced today. As part of the biggest and most ambitious catch-up plan in NHS history, an estimated 780,000 additional surgeries and outpatient appointments will be provided at 37 new surgical hubs, 10 expanded […]
NHS drive to reduce ‘no shows’ to help tackle long waits for care
The NHS has this week launched a major drive to reduce hundreds of thousands of missed hospital appointments every month, to help boost the recovery of elective services. As part of the biggest and most ambitious catch-up programme in NHS history, hospitals have been asked to ensure they are sending timely appointment reminders, improving processes […]
NHS cuts waiting lists as A&E departments busier than ever before
The NHS waiting list has fallen for the first time since the start of the pandemic while hospitals dealt with the highest ever number of A&E attendances last month, new figures show today. Thanks to the efforts of staff, elective care was delivered for 70,000 more patients in November compared to the same month before […]
NHS cuts 18-month waits as staff contend with busiest October ever
The NHS has slashed the number of people waiting 18 months for treatment by almost 60% in one year as the health service continues to prioritise the elective recovery. The number of patients waiting 78 weeks was reduced by 73,430 from 123,969 compared to September 2021 as staff clamp down on the longest waits. It […]
NHS delivers on elective recovery plan with progress on treatment and tests
The number of patients waiting for tests and checks has fallen for the third month in a row – and is at the lowest level since the NHS launched its elective recovery plan, the biggest, most ambitious catch up programme in health history. New figures today show that there were 1,521,711 patients waiting for diagnostic […]
NHS marks milestone in recovery plan as longest waits virtually eliminated
NHS staff were today praised for virtually eliminating the longest waits for scans, checks, surgical procedures and other routine treatment, the first milestone in the most ambitious catch-up plan in health service history. The NHS Elective Recovery Plan, published earlier this year, set out how the health service would address the backlogs that have inevitably […]