Introduction to NHS Waiting Times
Nearly a quarter of hospitals in England have seen waiting times worsen since the government published its plan to tackle the backlog a year ago. Hitting the 18-week waiting target for treatments such as knee and hip operations was a key manifesto pledge for the health service. While nationally progress is being made, 31 hospital trusts have gone backwards and another 17 have made little progress out of the 129 services examined.
Factors Affecting Waiting Times
The hospitals struggling the most said they were facing a variety of challenges, including staffing shortages, doctor strikes, and problems with IT systems. The introduction of a new electronic patient record system, which disrupted services, and an increase in cancer referrals that had to be prioritized ahead of planned treatments, have also caused problems.
Patient Experiences
Mary Waterhouse, 72, from Blackpool, is one of many patients who has faced delays at a hospital where waits are getting worse. She has arthritis and has been receiving treatment from Blackpool Hospitals NHS Trust since 2022. She was initially given steroid injections but was referred back onto the waiting list in late 2024 as her condition worsened. She had to wait eight months to get assessed, but by that point, her health had deteriorated so much she was told she would need hip and knee replacements on both sides.
Government Response
The government has made improving waiting times its key priority for the NHS and has pledged to get back to hitting the 18-week waiting time target in England by March 2029. The target requires 92% of patients to be seen in 18 weeks. An interim national target of 65% has been set for March 2026. When the government published its plan last January, 59.2% of patients were waiting less than 18 weeks; that has now improved to 61.8%. The size of the waiting list has also fallen to 7.31 million – the lowest level since February 2023.
Performance Variations
But locally, there are big differences in performance, despite dedicated funding having been set aside to help NHS trusts – which have been given their own individual targets for improvement. East Cheshire has had the biggest drop, going from 61.2% of patients waiting less than 18 weeks to 51.2%. Barnsley saw a drop of nine percentage points, while both Whittington Health and Epsom and St Helier NHS trusts experienced falls of around five percentage points.
Regional Differences
The 18-week pledge only applies to England, but targets for hospital treatments are being routinely missed in other parts of the UK. Rory Deighton, of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS trusts, said: "The NHS is not one homogenous body but is made up of hundreds of separate organisations, each with their own distinct financial and operational challenges." Chris McCann, deputy chief executive at patient watchdog Healthwatch England, said the analysis showed there were "stark differences" for patients depending on where they live.
Conclusion
A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said the government had got the NHS on the "road to recovery" but there was still more to do. She said investment was being made in services such as new surgical hubs and evening and weekend scanning, which would help. And she said individual hospitals would be held to account for their performance.
