Waiting list hits new record high as attention shifts to 65-week breaches

The NHS waiting list hit a record 7.3 million incomplete pathways in March, according to new official data, as trust bosses gear up to clear the circa 95,000 patients who have waited over 65 weeks.

NHS England also confirmed in its monthly statistical update that there remained around 10,000 patients on the waiting list who had breached 78 weeks despite a target to clear this cohort by April, as HSJ revealed would be the case in March. It instead hoped these will be cleared by June or July.

Ten trusts are responsible for around half of the 78-week breaches, with Manchester University Foundation Trust recording the most on 969, University Hospitals Leicester Trust reporting 837 and Royal Devon University Healthcare FT on 695.

NHSE chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the NHS “is making great strides on long waits… in the face of incredible pressure [and this] is testimony to the hard work, drive and innovation of frontline colleagues”.

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Source: HSJ, 11 May 2023