Health Services: Waiting Lists
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of what the NHS waiting list will be in (a) 12 months, (b) two years, (c) three years and (d) by the end of the Parliament.
Answered by Karin Smyth
Projected estimates of National Health Service waiting list size are currently being refined. We have delivered a reduction in the list of 160,000 pathways, as well as provision of over two million extra appointments between July and November 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, seven months ahead of schedule. This includes operations, consultations, diagnostic tests, and treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and endoscopy.
As set out in the Plan for Change, we will ensure 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029; and the Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out an expectation that national performance will increase from 58% as of December 2024 to 65% by March 2026, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum 5 percentage point improvement by March 2026.
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