- The NHS routine hospital waiting list in England rose to 7.37 million pending procedures in August, involving approximately 6.24 million patients.
- Long-term delays continued to escalate, with 113,339 patients waiting over a year for care, while only 65 per cent started treatment within the 18-week target.
- Despite NHS staff delivering a summer record of 4.7 million planned treatments, senior officials warned of ominous early winter pressures from flu and respiratory viruses.
- Emergency departments experienced their busiest September on record with 2.44 million attendances, causing 4-hour target performance to drop and over 50,000 patients to face 12-hour admission delays.
- Health policy experts warned that short-term funding fixes are insufficient, urging the government to focus on long-term illness prevention and sustainable health service reform.
IN FULL
