'Waiting lists must halve to meet pledge on NHS'

NHS waiting lists must be cut by more than half for the Government to meet its key pledge of carrying out 92% of routine operations within 18 weeks by the end of Parliament in 2029, a study has found.

- STORM NEWTON

The analysis involving researchers from the University of Bath “underscores the challenge still required to improve waiting times’, researchers said.

The key Labour pledge was made by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in January.

The latest NHS performance data showed that the waiting list for routine hospital treatment had fallen slightly after rising for three consecutive months.

An estimated 7.39 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of September, relating to 6.24 million patients, down from 7.41 million treatments and 6.25 million patients at the end of August.

Experts from the NHS and the universities of Bath, Lancaster and Durham suggest waiting lists would need to fall by 54.1% - or 3.4 million - to reach the 92% standard.