The NHS waiting list for treatment in England dipped by 70,000 in September although it remained around 7.6 million where it has been for a year.
According to the latest data, there were 7,573,212 treatment pathways wating to be completed in September, down 0.1% from 7,643,214 in August.
With some patients awaiting multiple treatments the number of unique patients affected is estimated to be around 6.3 million.
The figures showed progress has been made among those waiting the longest.
There were 113 cases waiting more than two years, down from 124 and 2,703 waiting more than 78 weeks, down from 3,335.
The number waiting more than 65 weeks halved, falling from 45,527 to 22,903, while those waiting more than a year fell more than 33,000 (12%) to 249,343.
Immense challenge
Health Foundation assistant director of policy Tim Gardner noted that with winter approaching the statistics continued to show the immense challenge the government faces in tackling NHS waiting times.
“There are some positive signs, with the waiting list for routine care falling to 7.57 million, down from the all-time high of 7.77 million 12 months ago,” he said.
“The number of over 52-week waits has also fallen by over one third in the last year. While too many patients continue to face unacceptable delays, this progress is encouraging.
“However, urgent and emergency care continues to experience severe strain.”
Gardner added that after more than a decade of underinvestment and short-termism, the organisation welcomed the chancellor’s commitment to a long-term approach to rebuilding the NHS and other public services.
He also agreed it was right for health and social care secretary Wes Streeting to focus on value for money and to be clear about the performance expected, but the measures announced must be supported by other policies to improve performance.
“Improvement will only happen if staff believe these new processes to be fair, that support is genuine, and that their voice is heard – or we risk further lowering of morale,” Gardner continued.
“Creating a health service that is fit for the future will rely on securing long-term investment and reform in next year’s Spending Review and 10-year plan.”
Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) chief executive David Hare added: “With the billions of pounds of extra funding for the NHS announced in the chancellor’s Budget, the public will now rightly be expecting to see clear improvements in waiting times for NHS services, with detail set out on exactly how this extra investment will ensure performance targets can once again be met by the end of this Parliament.”
