The waiting list for NHS treatment in England fell slightly in June.
According to official data, the number of referral to treatment (RTT) pathways where a patient was waiting to start treatment, not including estimates for missing acute trusts, at the end of June 2026 was 7,147,562, down by 6,093 from 7,153,655 in May.
Including estimates for the missing trusts, the number was 7.3 million.
As some patients are on multiple pathways, the number of unique patients is estimated to be around 6.2 million, unchanged from the previous month.
Among the 7.3 million, in 105,711 cases the patient was waiting more than 52 weeks, in 7,831 cases they were waiting more than 65 weeks, in 1,099 cases they were waiting more than 78 weeks, and in 173 cases they were waiting more than 104 weeks.
In 65.8% of cases the patient had been waiting up to 18 weeks, and so not meeting the 92% standard.
Over the month, 1,968,600 new RTT pathways were started and 324,247 pathways were completed as a result of admitted treatment, with 1,332,290 completed in other ways where patients were not admitted.
For those pathways where the patient was waiting to start treatment at the end of June 2026, the median waiting time was 11.9 weeks. The 92nd percentile waiting time was 38.3 weeks.
Negligible improvement
Emily Jones, head of workplace wellbeing at Broadstone, said despite some progress bringing down NHS waiting lists in June, the backlog remains stubbornly high with only a negligible improvement recorded in the past month.
“The extreme heat through the summer months is likely to place further strain on the public health service and further dent its ability to improve service levels,” Jones said.
“The overall picture remains one of significant pressure across the health system although it was positive to see that the ONS’ revamped labour force survey published this week has suggested that economic inactivity due to long-term illness may be lower than has been estimated.”
Locked in a cycle of failure
Jones maintained that prevention and early intervention go hand in hand.
“If fewer people are engaging with preventative healthcare while more patients are left waiting for treatment for acute illnesses, then the public healthcare system will stay locked in a cycle of failure demand, as it spends ever greater sums of cash treating the consequences of failing to prevent, detect or treat illness at an early stage,” she continued.
“For businesses, these figures reinforce the importance of maintaining their staff’s access to timely healthcare support. With NHS capacity constraints continuing to affect employees and their families, health benefits and preventative support can play an increasingly important role in helping people access care earlier, reduce avoidable deterioration and support healthier, more productive workforces.
“Reducing waiting lists will require continued focus on NHS capacity, but the wider healthcare ecosystem also has a role to play in supporting people to access treatment and advice when they need it.”
Record levels of demand
Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King’s Fund, said the NHS continues to face record levels of demand, compounded by the ongoing series of heatwaves, laying bare the threat of climate change to the nation’s health.
“The way the 65% target was originally hit could also account for this trend,” Woolnough said.
“Post March, ‘sprint’ funding has dried up meaning there are fewer resources available to NHS trusts to cut waiting lists. We warned at the time that the NHS could not sprint its way to a lasting solution and taking this approach to secure a sustainable fall in waiting lists would prove challenging.
‘With temperatures remaining high since this data was recorded, coupled with widespread drought, health and social care secretary Yvette Cooper was right to speak about the need for the NHS to prepare for summer pressures, as it does with winter.”
Climate change
But Woolnough also maintained that climate change is the biggest risk to health in the 21st century and without rapid decarbonisation and adaptation in the health service and wider society, the issues will go “far beyond missed targets – bringing both deadly and financially costly consequences”.
“The existential threat that climate change poses should focus the minds of the new government to refrain from drifting back to the incrementalism we have seen over the past year, and look to the long-term transformation that was promised in the 10-Year Health Plan,” she continued.
“The abolition of NHS England has required a focus on reorganisations, redundancies and budget cuts, instead of making meaningful progress on the promised health mission, to take a more preventative approach and relieve pressure on health and care services.”
Closer collaboration
Some areas under greater pressure
But Sarah Taylor, director of corporate proposition at Healix Health, said the decline in the overall waiting list only tells part of the story, because some areas of care are still under much greater pressure than others.
“Gynaecology is one of the clearest examples, with 584k pathways waiting to start treatment in June,” Taylor said.
“Long waits for women’s health services can leave people managing symptoms for months while still trying to carry on with work and everyday life, and it is a useful reminder that looking at the detail behind the headline figures can tell us much more about where people are struggling to access care.
“For employers, that means thinking about women’s health as part of the overall healthcare support they offer, particularly as women can need different types of healthcare support at different stages of their working lives. When support is difficult to access, the impact can quickly spill over into the workplace, with our Hidden Workplace Healthcare Gap report finding that more than a quarter of employees had taken extra time off work because they could not access care.
“Employers cannot solve NHS waiting lists, but they can make sure women know what support is available to them and can access the right care sooner.”