The variety of appointments for sufferers ready for NHS remedies in England elevated by almost 19,000, to 7.42 million in March up from 7.4 million in February.
Whereas the rise has not undone all current progress, the trail to decreasing the ready listing has been sluggish and any features are fragile, as in the present day’s figures present.
The ready listing had been displaying gradual however regular decreases since final September however has now elevated for the primary time since then.
Earlier than COVID, the ready listing was at round 4.5 million appointments, and it peaked at 7.7 million in September 2023.
Since then, the ready listing has decreased by round 300,000 from its peak, however stays nicely above pre-pandemic ranges.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s Nationwide Medical Director, stated that the dimensions of demand on frontline NHS groups is “enormous” as they cope with the challenges of the backlog, whereas additionally maintaining with tons of of hundreds of latest sufferers that want care:
“In March, we saw a particularly sharp rise in referrals – yet staff still managed to deliver more for patients with 100,000 more treatments delivered…
“It’s a good factor that extra individuals are coming ahead for care – and I might urge anybody who has well being considerations to come back ahead and get checked out as quickly as they will,” he stated.
Whereas it is true that extra appointments had been delivered than in the identical month final yr, the 1.5 million taken off the ready listing shouldn’t be a traditionally excessive determine and is actually round 2,000 fewer than in the identical month two years in the past.
Equally, the 1.8 million new appointments added to the ready listing, whereas bigger than the 1.75 million new appointments a yr in the past, is fewer than the 1.9 million added in March 2023, and never distinctive in comparison with different current comparable months.
Rising demand for providers is a constant pattern and can proceed to be a problem for the NHS and Keir Starmer’s authorities, who’ve pledged to convey the ready listing down.
There are typically seasonal developments within the ready listing, which does usually are likely to lower over winter and enhance into the spring and in to summer season.
In line with NHS England, the rationale that the ready listing will increase each spring is that extra folks come ahead for remedy after the winter.
On common, it is gone up in March by a median of 68,000 remedies, based mostly on the final ten years of knowledge excluding these throughout COVID – so this yr’s enhance of round 19,000 from February to March is under that common.
NHS England say that the additional exercise the federal government has delivered this yr could possibly be the rationale underlying this smaller enhance.
It stays to be seen as to whether the wait listing will proceed to extend into the summer season as traditional, and to what extent the general influence of this seasonal rush shall be mitigated.
Commenting on the figures, Well being and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting stated:
“Since day one, we have been clear it will take time to reverse the disastrous waiting list we inherited. But since July, real progress has been made – including over winter. We have overseen a massive increase in appointments available to meet rising demand, reduced long waits and helped people get diagnosed quicker.”
