NHSE admits service not on course to hit 2025-26 waiting list targets

NHS England’s elective chief has admitted the service is not on course to hit the main 2025-26 elective care targets and has “more to do” to bring performance “back in line”.

Mark Cubbon said progress to ensure 65% of elective patients are treated within 18 weeks and to reduce 52-week waiters to 1% of the overall waiting list had slowed in recent months. 

Speaking to HSJ exclusively ahead of today’s release of the official monthly statistics, he said: “We saw a very positive start to the year for RTT [referral to treatment pathway]. But while we are seeing encouraging progress in some providers with long waits, there is more to do to bring this position back in line.”

Mr Cubbon’s warning comes the day after two of the country’s leading think tanks accused ministers of using misleading indicators to suggest the NHS was recovering more strongly than it is. 

Mr Cubbon’s warning that the service was on course to miss the 2025-26 waiting list targets follows the news that four trusts have been moved into NHSE’s most challenged category for elective performance in an “exceptional” move outside the normal schedule, due to concerns among national leaders about their long waits, as revealed by HSJ  earlier in August.

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Source: HSJ, 14 August 2025