3M OFF NHS WAIT LIST

Government on course for 40% cut to backlog by end of this parliament

- BY MARTIN BAGOT Health Editor

LABOUR is poised to slash the NHS waiting list by almost three million appointments this parliament.

A projection by charity the Health Foundation shows the government could cut the backlog by almost 40% by August 2029 after a decade of soaring waits under the Tories.

But it warns progress could be dealt a blow by NHS pay strikes.

The NHS waiting list in England stood at 7.6 million when Labour came to power in 2024 after rising from 2.5 million in 2010 when the Tories took office. It fell by 220,000 in the first year of the new government and the Health Foundation report finds on current trends the waiting list will fall by 2.92 million by the next election.