NHS misses targets in England to tackle care backlogs

Hospitals in England have failed to hit key targets to tackle the backlogs in cancer care and routine treatment.

Waiting times show too many patients were still facing long waits at the end of March.

The targets were to eliminate 18-month waits for planned care, such as knee and hip replacements, and to bring 62-day cancer waits to pre-pandemic levels.

NHS England said huge progress had been made, particularly on routine care.

The numbers waiting over 18 months for treatment peaked in September 2021 at nearly 125,000.

By the end of March just over 10,700 were waiting that long - but NHS England said around 4,000 of them were complex cases or patients who had been offered treatment but had chosen to wait.

Overall, there are now more than 7 million people on a hospital waiting list, which is nearly 3 million higher than it was before the pandemic started, although in recent months the number has stopped rising.

Ministers have warned it could be next spring before the number starts falling.

The NHS had already acknowledged it was going to miss the cancer target.

It was set a goal of bringing the number of people waiting more than 62 days for treatment back to pre-pandemic levels of 14,200.

By the end of March 19,248 were waiting that long - although that is also well down from the peak in September 2022 of nearly 34,000.

NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said "great strides" were being made in the face of "incredible pressure".

As well as the demands placed on hospitals by flu and Covid this winter, the NHS has also had to contend with managing the impact of strikes by nurses, junior doctors, physios and ambulance workers which have caused the postponement of more than 500,000 appointments and operations.

"There is still much work to be done, but these are remarkable achievements given all the NHS has had to contend with," added Ms Pritchard.

"I am proud of each of my colleagues who has worked tirelessly to deliver for patients."