Britons face the longest waiting times for treatment in hospital

THE UK is among the worst-performing of 10 high income countries on waits for hospital care.

- Hanna Geissler

Some 11% of people who had needed to see a specialist in the last two years and 19% of those who had non-emergency surgery waited a year or more, a survey shows.

The Health Foundation, which took data from the 2023 Commonwealth Fund survey, said only Canada had similarly long waits.

The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand, the US, France and Sweden all performed better.

Crumbling

Its report also found waiting times for specialist appointments had risen more rapidly in the UK than in other countries.

Some 61% of people reported waiting more than four weeks for a specialist appointment last year, up sharply from 14% in 2013.