NHS waiting list reaches record high — again

On the same day that junior doctors in England are staging their longest strike yet, new NHS statistics show that the service continues to struggle with patient demand. The number of waits for treatment – including elective operations and procedures – has now reached a record 7.5 million, according to figures published this morning. Over 385,000 of these appointments have been on the waiting list for more than a year, an increase on figures at the end of April. Meanwhile, more than 11,000 were delayed for 78 weeks or more, even though waits of this length were meant to be abolished by April.

Waiting times for the majority of non-emergency patients worsened in May from the previous month and the health service also failed to meet its target that 92 per cent of patients should receive treatment within 18 weeks. Less than two thirds of patients were actually treated in this time.