NHS waiting list hits record high of almost 7.8m

The NHS waiting list in England has hit a new record high, with almost 7.8 million people waiting for treatment, data shows.

An estimated 7.75 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of August, up from 7.68 million in July. It is the highest number since records began in August 2007.

The waiting list for treatment has been growing for much of the last decade, passing three million in 2014, four million in 2017, five million in 2021 and seven million in 2022.

As the NHS waiting list grows A&E pressures are “ running red hot”, a major think tank has warned, with new figures showing 123,000 patients waited more than 12 hours in emergency departments last month.

Some 8,998 people in England are estimated to have been waiting more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment at the end of August, up from 7,289 at the end of July, according to data.

A total of 396,643 people in England had been waiting more than 52 weeks to start routine hospital treatment at the end of August, up from 389,952 at the end of July.

The Government and NHS England have set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than a year by March 2025.

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Source: The Independent, 12 October 2023