The total waiting list fell by 70,000 in September, but A&E faced the busiest October on record, NHS performance statistics have shown.
NHS leaders have warned there is a ‘real risk’ of services becoming ‘overwhelmed’ and falling into crisis this winter.
The total waiting list fell to 7.57 million in September, down from 7.64 million in August. However, there were 2.36 million attendances to A&E across England in October, which was 6% more than the previous busiest October, according to NHS England.
The statistics also showed that the NHS missed its target to eliminate waits of 65 weeks by September, with 22,903 patients still waiting this long for treatment.
But the number of patients waiting over a year for elective treatment was down 33,321 to 249,343 in September. This is also a reduction of over 140,000 since September 2023.
Rory Deighton, acute director at the NHS Confederation, said the figures show the NHS is facing ‘record demand’.
‘This comes after the busiest summer and September on record, so it is very concerning that the health service is running so hot ahead of what is expected to be another very difficult winter,’ he said.
‘NHS leaders and their teams are working incredibly hard and will continue to do so over the next few months. But with record numbers of patients who often have multiple or more complex conditions there is a real risk services could become overwhelmed and fall into crisis.’
He added that there continues to be too many patients in hospital who are medically fit enough to go home, but cannot due to a lack of social and community care provision.
‘For the NHS to tackle some of these problems we need a functioning well-supported social care sector. We are very worried about the impact of the employer National Insurance contribution hike on primary and social care. With funding already strained it is essential that these vital services are not pushed into crisis or forced to close,’ he said.
Isabel Lawicka, director of policy and strategy, NHS Providers, added: ‘Already it feels like winter, regularly the busiest and toughest time of year, in many parts of the NHS.
‘It’s good to see the overall waiting list come down plus more diagnostic tests, cancer checks and treatments. But too many people are still waiting too long for care despite trust leaders and staff giving it all they’ve got to see patients as quickly as possible.’
She said they would ‘look forward’ to the elective reform plan to help wait cuts, but that extra winter demand would ‘make it hard to maintain progress on reducing waiting times and discharge delays’.
‘Severe staff shortages continue to take their toll too,’ she added. ‘At the last count anxiety, stress, depression and other psychiatric illnesses were the most reported reason for NHS staff sickness absences – more than one quarter of the total and equal to more than 555,000 lost full-time days a year.’
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: ‘The NHS is going into winter under more pressure and busier than ever before, with another record month for A&E and ambulance services before we even start to see a further spike of pressure caused by colder weather and the spread of winter viruses.’
He added: ‘Thanks to the efforts of our amazing staff, these figures also show how they are making use of the latest innovations, including surgical hubs, to bring down waiting lists and deliver 7% more treatments than the same month pre-pandemic, while also delivering more tests and checks than any other September.
‘While we continue to treat record numbers and deal with record demand, it is clear that there is still much further to go to return performance to the levels patients should expect and we will continue to work with government on the 10 Year Health Plan to address the needs of patients.’
It comes as hospital providers were last week told to prioritise fixing the relationship with primary care.
