Experts are sounding the alarm about another difficult winter for the NHS (Image: Getty)
The NHS is “approaching winter in a bad shape”, experts have warned, after the waiting list grew to its highest level for 10 months.
Some 6.42 million patients were waiting for 7.64 million procedures in August, up from 6.39m patients and 7.42m procedures in July.
The latest total included 282,664 who had been waiting over a year, down slightly from 290,326 the previous month. Meanwhile, NHS England said pressure on A&Es was “not letting up” after their busiest summer on record.
Some 1.2 million more people have attended emergency departments so far this year than during the same period before the pandemic.
More than 38,000 patients waited over 12 hours from a decision to admit to actually being admitted in September, and 130,000 waited at least four hours.
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Relentless pressure on A&Es has been a key concern this year (Image: Getty)
The NHS standard is for 95 per cent of patients to be seen within four hours of arriving at A&E. This was temporarily lowered to a target of 78 per cent as part of a recovery plan.
The figure stood at 74.2 per cent last month, down from 76.3 per cent in August.
Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at The King’s Fund think tank, said it had been three years since A&E performance met even the lower target and a decade since the official standard had been met.
He added: “The NHS is approaching winter in bad shape. Industrial action is continuing, financial pressures are rising, and important performance targets continue to be missed.
“The Government has made its diagnosis that the NHS is broken, and now they must fix it. There have been some reports that the NHS will be put at the center of the upcoming Budget.
“But with a backdrop of constrained public finances, the proof will be in the pudding of how far the government are willing to go to support health and care services ahead of next year’s multi-year spending review.”
The Royal College of Nursing warned that the health service was “hurtling towards another corridor care crisis this winter”.
Patricia Marquis, RCN executive director in England, said: ”The number of people waiting more than 12 hours is up by more than 20 per cent on the same point last year.
“Without intervention, the government’s next 100 days will be defined by patients crammed into fire escapes, store cupboards and corridors.”
A total of 75.5 per cent of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer in August were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days. This is down from 76.2 per cent the previous month but above the 75 per cent target.
The proportion of patients who had waited no longer than 62 days in August from an urgent suspected cancer referral or consultant upgrade to their first definitive treatment was 69.2 per cent, against a target of 85 per cent.
Kate Seymour, head of advocacy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Again, today’s cancer waiting times figures show that too many people are still waiting too long for cancer treatment.
“Let’s not lose the ability to be shocked by this and remember that behind these unacceptable figures are real people worrying about whether or not they might have cancer, or when their treatment is going to start.
“The UK government promise a 10 Year Health Plan and improvements to cancer care for England, and we welcome that long term ambition, but we need to know what immediate action the Health Secretary, and the Chancellor in this month’s budget, plan to take to reduce these unbearable waits.”
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said the health service was anticipating “another extremely busy winter” with the triple threat of Covid, flu and respiratory syncytial virus.
He added: “These latest figures show the pressure we saw over summer is not letting up with too many patients waiting too long for treatment.
“NHS staff have delivered over half a million more treatments so far this year than in 2019 and we met the cancer faster diagnosis standard for the fourth month in a row in August, but we know we need to go further and we will continue to work closely with government to provide faster, high-quality care.
“I’d again encourage anyone eligible for vaccinations to come forward as soon as possible to avoid you or your loved ones getting seriously ill, as well as calling 999 in an emergency and using 111 online for any other conditions.”
Minister of State for Health Karin Smyth said: “With the winter months approaching fast, we have laid out our plans with NHS England to make sure the system is prepared.
“This includes using virtual wards to support patients out of hospital, making sure pharmacies are supporting general practice during this busy period and running the annual winter vaccination campaign, including offering RSV vaccines to vulnerable groups for the first time.
“This government is working at pace to radically reform the NHS through the 10-Year Health Plan, focusing on three big shifts from analogue to digital, sickness to prevention and hospital to community, so the NHS can be there for us when we need it, once again.”