London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Oct 26, 2025

NHS England waiting list reaches record high for second straight month

NHS England waiting list reaches record high for second straight month

Experts warn 5.3m backlog could exacerbate burnout with staff facing ‘unprecedented levels of exhaustion’

The number of patients waiting for NHS treatment in England broke records for the second month in a row to reach 5.3 million, official figures show, prompting warnings the huge care backlog could exacerbate health service staff burnout.

It means the waiting list has grown by 606,501 over the last three months as patients have started using the NHS again, renewing fears it will hit 7 million before the end of the year.

The figures showed that two-thirds (67%) of patients received treatments within 18 weeks in May, far below the standard the NHS sets itself of treating 92% within this timeframe.

Healthcare leaders said the figures showed there was an “immense task ahead” for healthcare workers, who were “valiantly firefighting on multiple fronts” as they faced “unprecedented levels of exhaustion and stress”.

The NHS said it was investing an additional £1bn in extra operations and treatments to restore services and cut backlogs. Patients waiting longer than 18 weeks for elective care dropped by more than 80,000 compared with April. Close to 337,000 patients are waiting more than a year though this that figure has fallen by 50,000 for the second month in a row.

Average wait times have been falling since February, with June the second lowest since before the pandemic started, at 10.8 weeks. However, experts predicted that the situation could deteriorate over the summer due to the unfolding third wave of Covid.


Nigel Edwards, the chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, said the risk of 100,000 new Covid cases a day within the next few weeks would result in “inevitable and significant demand for Covid-19 hospital beds”, which would slow efforts to catch up on waiting lists.

More than 2.1 million people attended A&E last month, making it the busiest ever June. Attendance figures collapsed during the early months of the pandemic, but they have been steadily returning to normal levels.

The figures came as the NHS Confederation said that “unsustainable numbers of people are now visiting A&E, seeing their GPs and calling ambulances. Overwhelming demand is putting severe and unprecedented strain on the urgent care systems.”

Nearly one in four people attending major NHS England A&Es waited more than four hours to be seen.


“A significant Covid surge this summer will place even more strain on an urgent care system struggling to cope, and this will have a direct and immediate impact on the care the NHS can provide to patients,” said Matthew Taylor, the confederation’s chief executive.

Nearly one in four people attending major A&Es waited more than four hours to be seen. Data on cancer patients also showed long waits after initial referrals, with just three-quarters of patients seen within two weeks of an urgent GP referral, falling far below the 85% target, with the same proportion seen after an NHS cancer screening against a 90% target.

In particular, the data showed that waiting times for a number of different treatments were especially long in the first half of 2020 as the health service grappled with the effects of the pandemic.

Analysis by the Macmillan cancer charity suggested the number of people who had seen a specialist for suspected cancer since the start of the pandemic was almost 300,000 lower than expected, while there were 35,000 missing patients starting treatment.

The charity estimated that the NHS in England would need to work at 110% capacity for 18 months to catch up on missing cancer diagnoses, and for 14 months to clear the cancer treatment backlog.

The shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, accused the health secretary, Sajid Javid, of prioritising a top-down reorganisation of the NHS over implementing a plan to bring down Covid infections, clear the backlog and properly support the NHS.

Pat Cullen, the Royal College of Nursing’s acting general secretary and chief executive, urged Javid to immediately address nursing vacancies and introduce a significant pay rise to retain experienced staff.

The NHS England medical director, Prof Stephen Powis, said: “Despite the huge disruption we have seen to care caused by the pandemic and the more than 405,000 Covid patients in our hospitals over the last 15 months, it is reassuring to see in today’s figures significant reductions in waits for routine operations, and for the first time this year a reduction in the number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
×