Health Services: Waiting Lists

A breakdown of the reasons for coming off the waiting list is not available in the aggregate monthly official statistics.

There are a number of reasons why a patient may come off an NHS waiting list without receiving treatment including: the patient or their clinician initiating active monitoring; a decision being reached that no treatment is needed or no further contact required; the patient declining treatment; and the patient dying before treatment, including deaths unrelated to the condition the referral was made.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, set out key commitments to reform elective care, return to the constitutional standard of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks, and build a sustainable National Health Service. This includes the commitment to transforming pathways, including: delivering at least 10 straight-to-test pathways by March 2026; opening CDCs 12 hours a day, seven days a week; ensuring all patients with long term conditions, who are on appropriate pathways, are offered Patient Initiated Follow-Up by March 2026; and undertaking pathway reform in five challenged specialties.

The Plan also set a focus on increased delivery of Advice & Guidance and effective triage, with a new incentivised model for pre-referral Advice & Guidance going live in April 2025; and a commitment to develop an implementation toolkit for triage services by March 2026.