Rishi’s target creeps away as NHS backlog climbs

Yet another of Rishi Sunak’s five targets looks to have slipped out of reach. Waiting lists for NHS treatment in England have climbed to another record high and now stand just shy of 7.6 million. There was a slight improvement for the longest waits: those waiting more than a year dropped slightly but still stand at a staggering 383,000. A very unlucky 314 have found themselves languishing on the lists for more than two years. Ministers gave the NHS a target to clear waits of more than 65 weeks by April next year, but there’s been little progress on those either.

NHS managers were quick to blame strike action – Junior Doctors are set to walk out again over pay tomorrow from 7a.m. The health services’ figures point to over 100,000 appointments being postponed in June alone. Overall, the NHS says, nearly 800,000 appointments have now been rescheduled due to strikes.