The NHS waiting list in England dropped further in November 2024, down by about 60,000 people compared to October.
NHS England data on referral to treatment (RTT) waiting times shows that the number of people waiting dipped to 7,479,960 people in November 2024, compared to October’s total of 7,541,373 people.
That represents a shortening of the list by 61,413 people.
The latest data marks a 2% decline of 133,882 people from the total of 7.61m people in November 2023.
But it is also represents an increase of 64% or 2,916,155 more people, when compared to the levels in November 2019 (4.56 million people), before the pandemic.
The data follows the Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s speech on the NHS on Monday, when he spoke on his plan to reduce the waiting list – a plan which includes the greater utilisation of the private healthcare market.
Encouraging measures
Emily Jones, client consulting director at leading independent consultancy Broadstone, said: “Today’s NHS data shows that those waiting for treatment in November hit 7.48 million, emphasising the prime minister’s recent remarks about the urgent need to tackle the millions of people currently unable to access much-needed treatment.
“It’s encouraging that the prime minister has announced new incentive measures to support businesses facilitating access to private healthcare given the significant relief the private market provides to the mounting demand pressures on NHS services, particularly in light of this winter’s flu crisis.
“While the government expects its new reforms to take millions of patients off waiting lists, tackle backlogs in hospitals, and boost appointments, businesses across the country have been stepping up to the mantle to fill the NHS’ healthcare gap, offering and investing in comprehensive, innovative healthcare benefits to protect their employees and their long-term growth from the damaging productivity consequences of poorer access to NHS support.
“With the waiting list placing more people at risk of falling out of the workforce due to preventable or manageable conditions due to delayed diagnosis and treatment, preventative healthcare, like health screenings and early intervention resources, is becoming increasingly popular to support employee wellbeing and limit absenteeism.”
