Latest figures show the NHS in London has reduced the number of people waiting more than 18 months for treatment by 80% over the past year.

Due to the impact of Covid, by August 2021 the number of people in London waiting 18 months or more had grown to 11,500, but a concerted effort by London’s NHS staff to care for people as quickly and safely as possible has seen that number plummet to just over 2,300. The NHS in London has also virtually eliminated the number of patients waiting two years or more.

Across the capital, innovative work is taking place to safely see as many patients as possible for routine procedures and life-saving checks, including for cancer.

The latest statistics show that in August 2022, 38,059 patients were seen across London for cancer checks, over 11% higher (5,412) than the number of checks performed pre-pandemic in August 2019.

Dr Chris Streather, Medical Director for the NHS in London said:

“Just one person waiting 18 months for treatment is too many, and I know that waiting is frustrating, but these figures show the enormous effort across the whole of the NHS in London to tackle waiting lists which built up throughout the pandemic.

“The dedication of NHS staff in pioneering new ways to provide safe care, including the use of cutting-edge technology in surgery, means waiting times for appointments and procedures continue to fall as our hospitals continue to work through the Covid backlog.

“I encourage anyone who needs care to come forward and get the care they need as soon as possible.”

Further initiatives are being rolled out to continue to support teams to be able to see more patients and complete more surgeries than ever before, while necessarily prioritising urgent and emergency care.

Surgical teams at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust run specialised High Intensity Theatre lists, known as ‘HIT’ lists, at weekends. The Trust recently ran a Robot Assisted Radical Prostatectomy HIT list, which was the first time in the UK that one hospital has completed eight cases of this kind in a single day.

In order to further support their Emergency Department, St George’s University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has opened a new Urgent Treatment Centre to help provide the best possible care for patients coming in with common minor injuries and ailments, freeing up capacity in its Emergency Department for those who need urgent and emergency care.