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 lowering the ready checklist has been sluggish and any positive factors are fragile, as at present’s figures present.
The ready checklist had been exhibiting gradual however regular decreases since final September however has now elevated for the primary time since then.
Earlier than COVID, the ready checklist was at round 4.5 million appointments, and it peaked at 7.7 million in September 2023.
Since then, the ready checklist 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 a whole bunch of 1000’s of recent sufferers that want care:
“In March, we noticed a very sharp rise in referrals – but workers nonetheless managed to ship extra for sufferers with 100,000 extra remedies delivered…
“It is a good thing that more people are coming forward for care – and I would urge anyone who has health concerns to come forward and get checked out as soon as they can,” he stated.
Whereas it’s true that extra appointments have been delivered than in the identical month final 12 months, the 1.5 million taken off the ready checklist is just not a traditionally excessive determine and is in actual fact 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 checklist, whereas bigger than the 1.75 million new appointments a 12 months 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 development and can proceed to be a problem for the NHS and Keir Starmer’s authorities, who’ve pledged to convey the ready checklist down.
There are typically seasonal traits within the ready checklist, which does usually are inclined to lower over winter and improve into the spring and in to summer time.
Based on NHS England, the explanation that the ready checklist will increase each spring is that extra individuals come ahead for remedy after the winter.
On common, it’s gone up in March by a median of 68,000 remedies, based mostly on the final ten years of information excluding these throughout COVID – so this 12 months’s improve of round 19,000 from February to March is beneath that common.
NHS England say that the additional exercise the federal government has delivered this 12 months may very well be the explanation underlying this smaller improve.
It stays to be seen as to if the wait checklist will proceed to extend into the summer time as traditional, and to what extent the general influence of this seasonal rush might 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.”
