London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 28, 2025

NHS waiting-list backlog will take years to clear

NHS waiting-list backlog will take years to clear

The waiting list for hospital treatment will not start falling for two years, ministers say, despite unveiling a plan to tackle England's backlog in care.

Six million people are on a waiting list - one in nine of the population.

But Health Secretary Sajid Javid said this number would probably increase, with demand expected to rise now Covid pressure was easing.

He also set out plans to reduce waiting times for cancer treatment.

These include a 28-day target for cancer diagnosis by March 2024, which should have been introduced last year but was delayed by the pandemic.

The proportion of cancer patients starting treatment within 62 days would return to its pre-pandemic level by March 2023, Mr Javid said, although this would still leave it some way short of the 85% target.



Waiting times would be cut by a 30% rise in the NHS's capacity for treatment, he said.

Crucial to this will be the establishment of a network of 160 community diagnostic centres along with surgical hubs focused on high-volume routine surgery away from major hospital sites - to increase efficiency and reduce the chance of emergency cases leading to cancellations.

Extra investment of £8bn over the next three years, funded through a national-insurance rise, will pay for these new facilities.

To free up staff time, follow-up appointments would be arranged on a case-by-case basis, rather than for all patients automatically, Mr Javid said.

And a new online service, My Planned Care, will inform patients about waiting times and how to prepare for treatment.

The plan would not just "reset" the NHS to where it had been before Covid, Mr Javid said, but build on what had been learned and make it "fit for the future".

"Just as we came together to tackle the virus, now we must come together in a new national mission to fight what the virus has brought with it," he said.

The numbers being referred for treatment had dropped by about 10 million during the pandemic, Mr Javid said.

People are thought to have been deterred from seeking help for non-urgent care, everything from knee and hip surgery to treatment for sight problems and joint pain.

And the health secretary said the NHS was working on the basis half of these "missing patients" could now come forward.

He also promised to eliminate waits of over a year by 2025.

Currently more than 300,000 people have waited this long, up from 1,600 before Covid hit.

There was no promise to meet the target of seeing 92% of patients within 18 weeks, however, last achieved in 2016.

'Biggest challenge'


NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said tackling the backlog would take time and "cannot happen overnight" but promised the health service would apply the same "can-do" spirit it had throughout the pandemic.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting accused the Tories of "mismanagement" of the NHS, pointing out performance had been declining before the pandemic.

And he said there was nothing in the health secretary's plan about tackling the "single biggest challenge" facing the NHS - the lack of staff.

"There are 93,000 staffing vacancies in the NHS today," Mr Streeting said.

"It is understaffed, overworked - and if he's not careful, he will lose more people than he is able to recruit."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
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’
×