NHS meets headline waiting times target but falls short on other key measures

The NHS has met its headline interim target of 65% of elective care waits within 18 weeks but has fallen short on four other key targets, according to new analysis from the Health Foundation.

Drawing on the latest NHS monthly performance data, the analysis looks at progress made against NHS England’s five key elective care targets set for March 2026. While the findings show significant progress in some areas, notably their leading target, they highlight that reaching the government’s headline waiting list pledge by the end of the parliament remains very challenging. 

Against the five key targets, the analysis finds that:

1. 65% of elective care waits within 18 weeks nationally
   
   Met: Significant progress, with a rapid acceleration from January to March (an increase of 3.8 percentage points, compared with less than 1 percentage point in the same period last year).
    
2. 5 percentage point improvement and 60% of elective care waits within 18 weeks at each trust
   
   Miss: More than 4 in 10 acute trusts in England did not meet both parts, with nine trusts meeting neither. More positively, performance variation across trusts has narrowed since March 2025.
    
3. Less than 1% of waits longer than 52 weeks
   
   Near miss: Long waits (1.3%) are at their lowest since June 2020 and have decreased significantly from 8.8% in March 2021, but numbers remain well above pre-pandemic levels.
    
4. 80% of waits from an urgent referral to a cancer diagnosis outcome within 28 days
   
   Near miss: Although the target has just been missed, this measure is affected by short-term changes, so it should be interpreted cautiously when assessing trends. Annual comparisons indicate no improvement in performance, down from 76.4% in 2024/25 to 76.3% in 2025/26. 
    
5. 75% of waits from an urgent referral to a first cancer treatment within 62 days
   
   Miss: Performance remained well below the 75% goal. However, comparing 2025/26 with 2024/25 shows a small improvement in performance, from 68.5% in 2024/25 to 69.4% in 2025/26.

Freya Tracey, Senior Data Analyst at the Health Foundation, said:

'The NHS has made encouraging progress against very stretching elective care targets, but maintaining this progress over the long term will be challenging. Recent short-term measures to increase activity, including ‘sprints’ often delivered as additional evening and weekend clinics, have contributed to the significant gains made but raise questions about how sustainably the NHS can operate at this pace. 

'Over the long term, it is going to take a huge, sustained effort — backed by sustained investment, targeted support and productivity improvements — to meet the government’s longer-term target by the end of the parliament.'

Media contact

Billie Morgan 
Billie.Morgan@health.org.uk
020 7257 8001