Hospital waiting lists in England hit new high of 6.2 million

A record 6.2 million people in England were waiting to start routine hospital treatment at the end of February, according to NHS figures.

That’s up 100,000 from the month before and the highest since records began in 2007.

Some 23,281 people had been waiting more than two years – down about 500 on January’s figure, but about nine times the 2,608 recorded in April 2021.

NHS England and the government are aiming to get rid of all waits longer than two years by July.

The number of people waiting more than a year was 299,478 in February, down from 311,528 a month before. The target for eliminating waits of 12 months-plus is March 2025.

Dozens of patients in England are enduring even longer waits, according to the PA news agency.

Its Freedom of Information request from 69 hospital trusts found 91 people had been waiting at least three years and at least eight over four years.

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However, it’s possible some of these could have chosen themselves to delay their care.

Twenty of those waiting longest were in line for trauma and orthopaedic care, which covers hip and knee replacements, and could be in pain or discomfort.

NHS leaders said they are working hard to clear backlogs but are struggling against factors such as treating COVID patients, high staff absences and serious workforce shortages.

“Trusts are doing all they can to bear down on care backlogs which have increased during the pandemic for hospital, mental health and community services. But they face extraordinary pressures, including the continuing impact of COVID-19,” said Chris Hopson, head of the NHS Providers organisation.

The new NHS figures also reveal a record for A&E waiting times of more than 12 hours in England (from decision to admit to admittance).

It rose to 22,506 in March – up from 16,404 the month before. It is the highest since records began in August 2010.

A total of 136,297 people waited at least four hours, another record. Only 71.6% were seen in under four hours, the lowest since November 2010.

Meanwhile, average ambulance response times for the most urgent cases increased to nine minutes and 35 seconds in England – up from eight minutes 51 seconds in February – and the longest since August 2017.

For calls such as strokes, epilepsy and burns, the wait averaged one hour, one minute and three seconds.

That’s nearly 20 minutes longer than in February, when it was 42 minutes and seven seconds, and another new high.

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