Fall in NHS waiting times stalls despite billions spent, say MPs

The NHS has failed to cut waiting times as promised in a landmark recovery plan despite billions of pounds in investment, the public accounts committee (PAC) said today.

- Denis Campbell

The influential parliamentary committee's verdict raises serious doubts over whether Labour can fulfil its key pledge to voters to "fix the NHS" by ensuring that patients can once again get hospital care within 18 weeks by 2029.

In a scathing report, the cross-party PAC said improvements in providing faster tests and treatment have "stalled". It criticised Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting for ordering a costly, unplanned reorganisation of the NHS in England that it said could damage care and is reminiscent of the shambles surrounding the HS2 rail project.

Far more patients than promised still have to wait more than 18 weeks for non-urgent hospital care - sometimes for more than a year - and more than six weeks for an X-ray or scan, it found.

It said: "Progress in reducing waiting times appears to have stalled, with the total elective care waiting list standing at 7.4m clinical pathways." This is about 220,000 fewer than when Labour took over.