Health Foundation response to monthly NHS performance targets

Responding to the publication of NHS England’s combined monthly performance statistics for January  2017, Adam Steventon, Director of Data Analytics at the Health Foundation, said:

'Today’s figures are another grim reminder of the enormous pressures on health and social care services. The figures show a continuation of the worrying downward trends for patients trying to access care. Waits in A&E, waits to get onto a ward, waits for urgent cancer treatment and waits to be discharged are all at their worst since records began in 2010.

'Part of the reason for this poor performance is inadequate funding for social care. Yesterday’s announcement by the Chancellor of an additional £1bn in extra funding for social care in 2017/18 is welcome, but it is not enough.

'Thousands of people depend on health and social care. The government needs to ensure there is adequate levels of investment to maintain good standards of care.'

Media contact

Creina Lilburne
creina.lilburne@health.org.uk
020 7257 8027

Notes to editors

In January, over 280,000 people had to wait longer than the target four hours in A&E to be seen. Once seen, nearly 80,000 people had to wait more than four hours to get onto a ward –nearly times the number five years ago.

Patients were delayed in hospital, unable to be discharged, for a total of nearly 200,000 days in January, the highest number since records began. A growing proportion of the delays are attributable to social care.

The Health Foundation recently published a report which estimated the social care funding gap to be £2bn for 2017/18, based of analysis of sustainability and transformation plans (STPs)