Waits for planned treatment still rising

THE waiting list for planned hospital treatment in England has increased for the third consecutive month, figures show.

- STORM NEWTON

An estimated 7.41 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of August, relating to 6.26 million patients, up slightly from 7.40 million treatments and 6.25 million patients at the end of July.

The data published by NHS England also shows 191,493 people had been waiting more than 52 weeks to start routine hospital treatment at the end of August, down slightly from 191,648 at the end of July. A year earlier, the figure stood at 282,664.

Some 2.6% of people on the list for hospital treatment had been waiting more than 52 weeks in August, unchanged from the previous month.

The Government and NHS England have set a target of March 2026 for this figure to be reduced to less than 1%.