The waiting list for NHS treatment in England increased slightly during April to 7.22 million from 7.11 million in March, a setback in efforts to reduce the backlog.
This ended six successive months of decline in the figures since October, when 7.4 million people were in the queue for treatment.
Other highlights include waiting lists shrinking in the past year by around 170,800 people from the 7.39 million recorded 12 months earlier.
April’s figures also show that 2.81 million people have joined the list since April 2019, which was before the start of the pandemic.
Also making disappointing reading is the list of those waiting for cancer treatment. Estimates for the four-week wait from urgent referral to confirmed outcome were 75.9%, which is below the operational standard of 80%.
This is the worst performance since 73.8% was recorded in September.
Emily Jones, head of workplace wellbeing at Broadstone, a consultancy, said the latest figures are a reminder that reducing the NHS backlog will not be a straightforward process for the new heath secretary.
She added that the deterioration in cancer waiting time performance is particularly concerning.
“Timely diagnosis and treatment are critical to improving outcomes, as long waits can lead to conditions worsening, prolonged periods of sickness absence and make it harder for people to return to work.
“It is therefore no surprise that demand for private healthcare continues to grow,” she added.
“More than two-thirds of a million Brits turned to private healthcare last year, while employers are increasingly investing in benefits such as private medical insurance, private GP services, health cash plans and health screening.
“Recent NHS initiatives to expand support for high-volume conditions like MSK [musculoskeletal] are welcome, but there is no quick solution to a backlog that remains substantially higher than pre-pandemic levels.
“As highlighted by the Keep Britain Working review, improving workforce health will require a co-ordinated effort between government, healthcare providers and employers to ensure more people can access the support they need and stay economically active.”
