NHS targets missed to tackle care backlogs in England

Hospitals in England have failed to achieve key targets to tackle the backlogs in cancer care and routine treatment, and waiting times have shown too many patients were still facing long waits at the end of March.

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

The number of patients waiting over 18 months for treatment peaked in September 2021 at approaching 125,000.  By the end of March, just over 10,700 were waiting that long, but NHS England said around 4,000 of those were complex cases or patients who had been offered treatment but had chosen to wait.

Overall there are currently more than 7 million people on a hospital waiting list, nearly 3 million higher than it was prior to the pandemic, although in recent months the number has stopped rising.

The NHS has previously acknowledged it was going to miss the cancer target, having been 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, more than 19,200 were waiting that long.

Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s chief executive, said “great strides” were being made in the face of “incredible pressure”, adding “There is still much work to be done, but these are remarkable achievements given all the NHS has had to contend with”.

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (jacquelinevance@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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