Waiting times for NHS elective care – our response

Commenting on the latest NHS data on elective care, Louise Ansari, Chief Executive at Healthwatch England said: 

“The incoming government has rightly placed getting on top of the elective backlog at the centre of its plans for recovering NHS performance.  The review into NHS performance by Lord Ara Darzi this morning provides a welcome opportunity to understand the causes of poor performance and chart a path to improvement.

“Today’s statistics show that there is still a mountain to climb to provide all patients in England with timely care. Progress on reducing the overall size of the waitlist has stalled, with numbers above 7.6 million appointments.  With only 59.1% of patients receiving care within 18 weeks of referral, the NHS is still far behind its target for 92% of patients being seen in this timeframe. Furthermore, more than 300,000 patients have waited more than a year for elective care. 

“We remain concerned that headline progress on waitlists may mask large inequalities when it comes to waiting for care. Our research has shown that those who are poorer, live with a disability or are from an ethnic minority background wait longer for care and often feel less supported while they wait. We have called on NHS England and NHS trusts to collect and publish data on disparities in waiting times, experiences, outcomes and improvements that diverse groups are reporting.

“NHS organisations also need to provide more support for those waiting for care. This should include providing pain relief and mental and physical support, improving communication with patients on how long they will wait, and giving people contact details to notify NHS teams if their condition deteriorates. Alongside reducing waitlist size and length, these basic steps are vital to improving people’s experiences and satisfaction with NHS services.”