The Covid backlog in the East of England fell for the fourth month in a row in January despite further industrial action, as almost 3.75 million GP appointments were also made available to patients across the region.

NHS England’s latest monthly data shows the waiting list in the East of England fell yet again, down by 4,207 from the previous month (929,937 in January compared to 934,144 in December), with a total drop of 55,702 since September 2023 (985,639).

Meanwhile, separate data shows that nearly 390,000 more GP appointments were available in the East of England in January compared to the same month in 2023.

Dr Edward Morris, regional medical director for the NHS in the East of England, said: “It’s good news for patients in our region that despite unusually high demand on services and the longest period of industrial action in NHS history, waiting lists are falling and GP appointments are increasing, thanks to hard work from our staff.

“GP teams in the East of England are providing thousands of appointments every day for patients, and measures such as upgrading telephone systems and boosts to the primary care workforce are supporting access to services.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

• One in five days in January were affected by strike action but NHS staff across the country still delivered 1,570,551 treatments in England – 52,214 (3%) more than before the pandemic (1,518,337 in January 2019).
• More than 7 in 10 (72%) of GP appointments in the East of England were delivered face-to-face in January. Every GP practice must offer face-to-face appointments as well as telephone and online consultations, with some patients choosing remote appointments where it is clinically appropriate. Finding and registering with a GP practice has never been easier, with more than a million patients in the country having used the online Register with a GP surgery service to register without having to visit the practice in person.
• The latest data shows there were 3,729,334 GP appointments in the East of England this January. There was also a huge increase in the number of home visits made by NHS staff to East of England patients, with 27,392 visits in January – an increase of 69% from 16,195 the same month last year.
• Last year, NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care published the ‘Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care’, which set out a package of measures to tackle the 8am rush and help improve patient satisfaction with access to GP services. This includes Pharmacy First, which will improve healthcare access for people across the country and free up 10 million GP appointments a year.
• NHS England also published the first comprehensive workforce plan for the NHS last year, which will help transform GP services across England, providing 6,000 more GP training places a year by 2031.

For more information contact england.eastcommunications@nhs.net