Public services performance tracker 2025: The NHS (Institute for Government & Nuffield Foundation, November 2025)

Summary

The report analyses spending, demand, staffing and performance across the NHS, specifically in relation to hospitals and general practice. It is intended to provide a comprehensive stocktake to date of the inheritance left by the previous Conservative government and the decisions made since the Labour Party came to power in the UK in 2024.

Content

Key findings

General practice

• There are 2,219 more salaried GPs* in September 2025 than in June 2024 (+20.5%). That monthly growth is almost 6x faster than Conservative governments achieved between 2015 and 2019.
• Between June 2024 and September 2025, the number of GP partners declined by 4.1% – and by 17.0% among partners under the age of 40.
• Though there are more GPs overall, the number of GP appointments has flatlined – meaning the number per GP was 2.7% lower in the 12 months to September 2025 compared to 2019.
• A record 8.6% of appointments in September 2025 were online, compared to just 0.7% in April 2023.
• But this is not widespread: three in 10 practices carried out no online appointments in the year to September 2025 (29.8%).

Hospitals

• Health spending growth is due to be only slightly higher than under the last Conservative government for the rest of this parliament (at 2.8% per year in real terms compared to 2.7%).
• 32 of 42 integrated care boards (76%) are forecasting a deficit in 2025/26, up from 18 in 2024/25.
• The growth of staffing has slowed since the start of 2024. There has been almost no change in the number of non-clinical staff in that time, while clinical staff have increased by 5%.
• Leaver rates have fallen to record lows (excluding the pandemic), with particularly low rates among consultants.
• In 2025 the NHS is recruiting more UK than overseas staff – reversing a trend seen between 2021 and the start of 2025, where more recruits came from overseas.