The number of people waiting for NHS treatment remained largely unchanged in March, according to official data.
The data showed the number of referral to treatment (RTT) pathways where a patient was waiting to start treatment was 7,538,800 in March. This was down from 7,539,716 in February.
The data also showed the number of unique patients was estimated to be around 6.3 million.
Breaking down the 7.5 million waiting list, in 309,300 cases the patient was waiting more than a year, in 48,968 cases they were waiting more than 65 weeks, in 4,770 cases they were waiting more than 78 weeks, and in 232 cases they were waiting more than two years.
In 57.2% of cases the patient had been waiting up to 18 weeks and was therefore did not meet the 92% standard.
During March 2024, 1,674,366 new RTT pathways were started and 301,891 pathways were completed as a result of admitted treatment and 1,127,434 were completed in other ways (non-admitted).
For those pathways where the patient was waiting to start treatment at the end of March 2024, the median waiting time was 14.9 weeks. The 92nd percentile waiting time was 44.7 weeks.
Progress made on cancer
While acknowledging the fact that the NHS had undergone a “tough winter”, Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at The King’s Fund, pointed to progress made on cancer care.
“As the NHS comes out of a tough winter, it is encouraging to see some green shoots in today’s statistics which show that improvements have been made in several key measures of cancer care,” Anandaciva said.
“In March, 77% of people had their cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days of referral, surpassing the national target of 75%.
“Some of today’s cancer figures show that the NHS can still improve care for patients despite the challenges it is facing.
“But the road ahead to make further progress in recovering performance in other areas of the NHS, including reducing lengthy waiting times for planned care and A&E, will be long.
“The hospital waiting list remains stubbornly high at 7.5 million in March, representing 6.3 million people waiting, often in pain or unable to work, for treatment.
“A&E departments also continue to be under extreme strain as we head towards summer, with over 2.2 million attendances in April, and only 74% of people being seen within four hours.
“The NHS’s recovery plan contains many sensible proposals to deliver better urgent and emergency care for patients.
“The increased spotlight on the longest waits in A&E departments in recent years is welcome and much-needed. More than 42,000 people waited more than 12 hours last month in A&E after a decision was made to admit them to hospital.”
Anandaciva added that there has been nearly a decade since A&E performance targets were reliably met, and there was “little” prospect of performance substantially improving in the near future.
“It is patients and staff who are bearing the brunt of the deterioration in NHS performance over the past 10 years,” Anandaciva continued.
“Successive governments have failed to invest in services to keep people well and outside of hospital. At the same time, NHS buildings and equipment have been allowed to degrade and become dilapidated.
“The government will need to prioritise both of these areas if it wants patients to receive the urgent and emergency care they truly need.’
Waiting far too long in pain
David Hare, CEO of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network, said: “These latest figures once again show that millions of patients are waiting far too long in pain and distress to access the treatment they need to lead productive and fulfilling lives.
“While there’s no silver bullet to tackling the NHS backlog, the independent sector is playing a significant role in ensuring patients can get treated as quickly as possible.
“In the last year, almost one in five NHS inpatient elective procedures were delivered by independent providers, and activity by the sector removed more than 1.5 million people from the NHS waiting list in 2023.”
Hare reiterated that the independent sector remains “ready and able” to treat even more NHS patients than it currently does.
“It’s therefore vital that local areas make use of all available capacity in independent providers – including making sure NHS patients are aware of their “right to choose” to be treated in an independent hospital – so that patients can access the care they so desperately need,” he concluded.
Long and difficult process
According to Brett Hill, head of health and protection at independent consultancy Broadstone, while the NHS data suggests that while waiting lists may well have peaked, bringing them down to historical norms will be a “long and difficult process”.
“In the meanwhile, the consequences for public health are stark,” Hill said.
“Month after month we are seeing health data point to a population that is suffering significant mental and physical health issues, while struggling to access much-needed care within a quick enough timeframe.
“With waiting times for GP appointments and specialist referrals at record levels, health conditions that could have been nipped in the bud early on are going undiagnosed or untreated far too often, causing longer-term, more complex health issues that are driving record levels of economic inactivity because of chronic illness..
“With the workforce becoming unhealthier and unproductive, and with demand for fast and effective healthcare growing by the day, we are increasingly seeing employers step up to the mark to protect their workforce’s wellbeing.
“From offering on-site health screenings to extending PMI coverage, businesses are realising the need to invest in employee benefits strategies that target prevention of illnesses while providing access to insurance benefits that can speed up necessary medical treatment.
“The ABI’s data this week shows that, of the 1.8 million people who accessed healthcare through either health or protection insurance in 2022, 1.3 million (75%) relied on workplace provided schemes. We expect this trend to accelerate as the NHS struggles to service the healthcare needs of the population.”
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