Health Foundation calls for investment and innovation as waiting list hits 5m for first time ever Health Foundation response to this month's NHS England performance statistics

Responding to the publication of NHS England’s monthly performance statistics, Tim Gardner, Senior Policy Fellow at the Health Foundation, said:  

'Today’s figures are a stark reminder of the pressure the NHS faces as it works to tackle the enormous backlog in routine hospital care caused by the pandemic. 

'Nearly 3,000 people have now been waiting more than two years for a procedure which the NHS constitution promises should be performed within 18 weeks, and nearly 400,000 have been waiting over a year. The total number of people waiting for routine hospital care – 5.1 million – is now greater than at any time since records began in 2007.  

'Waits of this magnitude are not acceptable to anyone and we know that the NHS and government are working hard to find a solution. The NHS needs to increase levels of activity but this will be extremely difficult with significant workforce shortages, post-pandemic staff burnt-out and ongoing constraints on capacity due to COVID-19, including social distancing.  

'The NHS urgently needs additional resources but importantly, local services also need the freedom and support to trial and evaluate innovative new approaches to tackling the backlog and share learning across the country. Making incremental improvements to business as usual, while important, will not be enough to address a challenge of this scale.'

Notes

• The latest NHS England performance statistics for April 2021 show 5.12 million people on the waiting list for routine hospital care, such as hip and knee replacements. This is the largest waiting list reported since records began in 2007 and an increase from 4.95 million in March 2021. Of those, 385,490 have been waiting more than a year.  
• Cancer referrals and treatment now above pre-pandemic levels – 209,452 patients were seen by a specialist following an urgent referral for suspected cancer in April 2021, compared to 80,031 in April 2020 and 199,217 in April 2019. 

Media contact

Creina Lilburne
Creina.Lilburne@health.org.uk
07941 156 827