Monthly NHS data shows the overall waiting list dropped by nearly 30,000 in May to 7.36 million people – the lowest total since March 2023, but there is concern that an impending strike by resident doctors later this month could have a negative impact on the downward trend.
The British Medical Association (BMA) confirmed that resident doctors will be striking for five days from 25 July after failing to reach an agreement with the government over pay increases.
The May total represented the lowest figure since March 2023 – with 60.9% waiting 18 weeks or less for planned care, the highest proportion since July 2022.
The waiting list stood at 7.39 million people in April, but was at 7.42 million in March, up from 7.40 million in February,
The number of people waiting for NHS treatment in England rose by 18,751 people in March 2025, the first increase since August last year.
Staff carried out an average of 75,009 planned treatments each working day in May – the highest number on record – with a total of 1.5 million treatments across the month, which is up on 1.45 million in April and higher than the 1,437,914 pre-pandemic in May 2019.
It was also the busiest May ever for the number of tests and checks, with 2,465,184 carried out, up 23% on pre-pandemic May 2019, with community diagnostic centres seeing patients closer to their homes.
A survey published by the NHS today also showed patient satisfaction with GP services has improved. The GP patient survey, commissioned by NHS England and carried out by Ipsos, showed three-quarters (75.4%) had a good experience of their GP practice an increase of 1.5 percentage points on 2024.
This breaks a trend of declining satisfaction seen in surveys conducted before the pandemic.
Strike expected to derail progress
Brett Hill, head of health and protection at Broadstone, said: “The fresh resident doctor strike action announced this week, should it go ahead, will almost certainly derail the government’s hard-won progress in bringing down waiting lists.
“Since the pay agreement last July that ended the previous industrial action, there has been a small but steady fall in the number of people waiting for treatment, helping to bring the waiting list back from its peak of almost eight million.
“While many factors have contributed to rising NHS waiting lists in recent years – including the impact of the pandemic – strike action compounded these pressures by disrupting appointments and reducing the number of doctors available to treat patients.
“Employers have been picking up the bill for their workers’ healthcare as long waits for treatment have driven record private healthcare admissions, with the majority of these being funded by private medical insurance and other health benefits.
“Given the evidence available, this latest wave of strike action looks set to put added pressure on already overstretched NHS resources, and once more it will fall to employers to step forward, and fill the gaps in the nation’s healthcare system.”
Hugely disappointing
NHS England co-national medical director for secondary care Professor Meghana Pandit said: “Today’s figures show the hard work of all NHS staff with the overall waiting list dropping to its lowest since March 2023, with a reduction in May delivered for the first time in many years.
“Across the NHS, our staff are showing their determination to improve access to services and bring down waits for treatment, whether it’s more evening and weekend appointments or people getting tested and checked closer to home at community diagnostic centres.
“This continued recovery has been a national effort across the health service and it would – of course – be hugely disappointing if this progress were to stall this summer due to industrial action.
“We are still seeing huge demand across NHS services, with a record June for A&E attendances and rising demand for ambulances, but despite this, patients are being seen quicker.”
Fragile recovery
Wes Streeting, health and social care secretary, said: “NHS waiting lists have fallen in May for the first time in 17 years, dropping by more than 260,000 since we took office.
“This is not a coincidence – it is because this government has delivered on the Plan for Change and put in the work to finally get our NHS moving in the right direction.
“But this recovery is only just beginning, and it is fragile. It is only with NHS staff and the government working together that we can rebuild our NHS so it is there for patients once again.
“That is why I am once again urging the British Medical Association (BMA) to abandon their unreasonable rush to strike and work with us to improve resident doctors working lives instead”.