NHS waiting list grows… AGAIN! 7.2m patients now in queue for routine ops and A&E 4-hr waits hit all-time high amid warnings wave of strikes will cause even MORE chaos to system crippled by flu, bed-blockers and Strep A panic

The number of people waiting for routine hospital treatment has surged to a new high, official figures show as hospital bosses warn strikes will cause even more chaos.

NHS data shows 7.2million patients in England were stuck in the backlog by October — equivalent to one in eight people. More than 400,000 had been queuing, often in pain, for at least one year.

The A&E crisis also worsened, with a third of emergency department attendees not seen within the health service’s four-hour target — the worst performance on record. More than 1,200 patients per day faced waits of more than 12 hours. 

Health chiefs have warned that a wave of strike action later this month among nurses and paramedics will cripple the health service further. Its performance is already deteriorating due to a surge in bed blockers, flu patients and demand from parents worried about the Strep A outbreak.

Official figures show 7.1million people in England were in the queue for routine hospital treatment, such as hip and knee operations, by the end of September — the equivalent of one in eight people (red line). The figure includes more than 400,000 people who have been waiting, often in pain, for over one year (yellow bars)

An estimated 7.2million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of October, NHS England said.

This is up from 7.1million in September and is the highest number since records began in August 2007. 

An estimated 410,983 people in England had been waiting more than 52 weeks to start hospital treatment at the end of October, NHS England said.

This is up from 404,851 at the end of September, and is the equivalent of around one in 18 people on the entire waiting list.

The Government and NHS England have set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than a year by March 2025. 

The number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England from a decision to admit to actually being admitted has fallen.

New NHS England data shows that 37,837 people waited longer than 12 hours in November, down 14 per cent from the record 43,792 in October but still the second-highest monthly total in data going back to August 2010.

The number waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission also dropped from a record 150,922 in October to 143,949 in November, again the second-highest on record.

A total of 68.9 per cent of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es last month, down from 69.3 per cent in October and the worst performance on record.

The operational standard is that at least 95 per cent of patients attending A&E should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, but this has not been met nationally since 2015.  

The average response time in November for ambulances in England outside London dealing with the most urgent incidents, defined as calls from people with life-threatening illnesses or injuries, was nine minutes and 26 seconds, NHS England figures show.

This is down from nine minutes and 56 seconds in October.

The target standard response time for urgent incidents is seven minutes.

Data for London is not available.

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