NHS waits trebled under the Tories as backlog rises again - see your area

The NHS waiting list increased again in the final month under the Tories confirming it more than trebled during their time in power.

The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has risen for the third month in a row to 7.62 million at the end of June - up from 2.5 million during 2010 when the Tories came to power.

The latest figure for June related to 6.39 million individual patients because some were on the waiting list for more than one procedure. The General election which swept the Tories from power with a Labour landslide came on July 4.

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Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “These figures confirm that 14 years of Conservative neglect left the NHS broken, waiting lists rising, and patients failed. Never again should the Conservatives be trusted with our health service.

"It will take time to turn the NHS around. But we are working night and day to get the NHS back on its feet, so it can once again be there for us all when we need it.”

The average time for those waiting from referral to hospital treatment is three and a half months. Just 59% had been waiting less than the constitutional standard of 18 weeks, against a target of at least 92%.

Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “Today's figures show that in the first half of 2024, around 30,200 cancer patients across England still had to wait longer than they should to begin their treatment.

"Even when people are treated on time, it’s a period of unimaginable stress for them and their loved ones, and delays that prolong this are unacceptable. The challenges facing the NHS are complex, and can’t be fixed overnight.”

The June waiting list total was up slightly from 7.60 million treatments and operations at the end of May. Before the pandemic in December 2019 the waiting list stood at a then-record 4.6 million – about double the figure under the previous Labour government.

Back then after a record funding squeeze, and repeated raids on infrastructure investment to cover day to day running costs, the waiting list was already rising steadily. The annual rate of NHS funding rises - to keep pace with new technologies and a growing, ageing population - slowed from 6% under Labour to only 2% under the Conservatives, according to an analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

The average since the NHS was founded is around 4% which is still low compared to similar European countries such as France and Germany.

In this weakened state Covid-19 struck and the numbers waiting for hospital treatment further ballooned. It hit a high of 7.77 million appointments, tests and checks and operations at the end of September. It dropped slightly before increasing in each of the last three months.

Professor Peter Friend, Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: "Each delay means another day for a patient living with risk and often in pain. Delays can lead to deterioration for patients, which may result in more risk, more complexity and higher cost to the NHS.”

The lowest waiting list figure recorded since the ‘Referral to Treatment’ measure started in 2007 was 2.32 million in January 2010 shortly before Gordon Brown’s Labour was ousted from power. A decade of pay erosion then led to repeated strikes by NHS staff.

Latest monthly data showed this industrial action in the last year resulted in 1.5 million appointments to be rescheduled. Mr Streeting said: “This Labour government has already agreed a pay offer to end the junior doctors strike. In contrast Conservative health ministers hadn’t even bothered to meet the junior doctors since March.”

Shadow Health Secretary, Victoria Atkins MP said: “When we left office, waits of over 18 months had been virtually eliminated and waiting lists have fallen since September 2023.

“For more than a year Labour refused to call for junior doctors to stop their strikes, despite the harmful effects on patients and the burden on nurses and other doctors. Now Labour has chosen to reward the junior doctors’ strike action that cancelled nearly one million appointments with a budget-busting pay rise, without any reforms in return and the threat of strikes still looming. Conservatives will always stand up for patients and the taxpayer whereas Labour’s instinct is to raise taxes to pay trade unions.”

The new data also shows A&E departments experienced the busiest July in 15 years, with 37,000 patients spending over 12 hours waiting for a hospital bed. Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England’s medical director, said: “Staff continue to work incredibly hard to deliver the best possible care for patients.”