Waiting lists in areas of England with the highest unemployment rates have fallen three times faster than the national average, new findings by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have shown.
As part of the Further Faster 20 (FF20) programme, specialist NHS ‘crack teams’ were sent to 20 hospital trusts that had the highest levels of economic inactivity, in a bid to help people return to work.
The evaluation, published 14 January 2026, showed that during the 12 months from October 2024 to October 2025, waiting lists in FF20 areas fell three times faster than the rest of the country – with a 4.2% reduction compared to 1.4% nationally.
For working-age adults, lists fell more than five times faster.
Speaking on the results, health secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘By sending crack teams into hospitals to supercharge care, opening more Community Diagnostic Centres longer and later, and cutting wasteful spending, we’re turning the tanker round and patients are starting to feel the difference.
‘It will be a long road, but together with NHS staff, we are fixing our health service and make it fit for the future and beyond.’
This announcement comes one year on from the government’s launch of its Elective Reform Plan, which involves funding being directed towards cutting waiting lists.
Since July 2024, the waiting list has been reduced by more than 225,000 while referrals have hit 28.4 million.
However, in response, Siva Anandaciva, director of policy, events and partnerships at The King’s Fund, said: ‘It is a good thing that waiting lists in parts of England are coming down.
‘But the reality check is that the overall hospital waiting list in England stood at 7.5 million last year and has only fractionally fallen to 7.4 million despite a full year of funding, energy and focus from the government and NHS.
‘While progress is happening, it is slow going and the government’s ambition to cut hospital waiting times is hanging in the balance at best.’
He welcomed the government exploring how ‘improving the NHS can get Britain working again’, but added that it needs to focus on the ‘underlying reasons’ that lead people to be off-sick for long periods.
‘The relationship between people’s health and the economy is a two-way street and truly breaking the complex cycle of long-term illness and economic inactivity will require coordinated action across government,’ he said.
Also today the Royal College of Nursing reiterated its calls for an end to corridor care, saying that nursing staff are in danger of ‘losing all hope’ and that a lack of action by the government has left them feeling ‘ashamed’, ‘angry’ and ‘embarrassed’ about the care they must deliver to patients.
Earlier this week the Liberal Democrats revealed it is calling for a new law which ends 12-hour waits to be embedded within the NHS constitution, and a legal duty for the health secretary to deliver this.
In a speech, leader Sir Ed Davey called the current NHS situation a ‘national crisis’ and described a ‘shocking corridor crisis’ in hospitals.
Responding, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘Corridor care are unacceptable.
‘That’s why this government is tackling the situation by delivering 500,000 more vaccinations compared to last year, building new same day emergency centres, mental health crisis centres, and deploying 500 brand new ambulances.’
