NHS waiting list at two year low as doctors' strike looms

The NHS waiting list in England has fallen to its lowest level in two years - but doctors' strikes threaten to stall progress, health leaders have warned.

- REBECCA THOMAS

The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England is down for the second month in a row, NHS figures show, with an estimated 7.36 million treatments waiting to be carried out at the end of May. That figure relates to just under 6.23 million patients, down from 7.39 million treatments and just over 6.23 million patients at the end of April.

They are the lowest figures since March 2023 for treatments and April 2023 for patients. The list hit a record high in September 2023, with 7.77 million treatments and 6.5 million patients. The news comes after resident doctors announced a five-day strike beginning on 25 July over the government’s refusal to award them the 29 per cent pay increase they are demanding.

Responding to the latest waiting list figures, health secretary Wes Streeting said that the fall is “not a coincidence”, claiming that instead it is because the government has put in the work to “finally get our NHS moving in the right direction”.