Waiting lists for routine hospital treatment in England have climbed to their highest levels in nearly a year, with over 6 million people currently awaiting care. Figures released by NHS England show that the waiting list for routine hospital treatment reached 7.33 million in July, marking the highest total since October 2025. This number represents approximately 6.21 million individuals, some of whom are waiting for multiple treatments.
The data indicates that more than 111,000 patients have been waiting longer than a year for treatment, with over 9,000 exceeding 15 months and nearly 1,500 surpassing 18 months. A total of 235 cases have now gone beyond two years.
These figures encompass the time patients wait to commence treatment after a non-emergency referral from a general practitioner, including appointments for specialties such as gynaecology, orthopedics, digestive complaints, and physiotherapy. The NHS has a target of starting treatment within 18 weeks, but only 65.4 percent of patients on the waiting list met this timeframe.
The increase in waiting times follows revelations that some health boards in England have reportedly enforced minimum waiting times of up to 16 weeks for procedures like hip, knee, and cataract surgeries, even when hospital capacity might allow for earlier treatment.
Separate figures also highlight a significant rise in waiting times for diagnostic tests, with over 1.9 million patients in England awaiting tests necessary to begin specialist treatment, an increase of more than 170,000 compared to July of the previous year.
Despite these figures, NHS England maintains it is on track to meet its waiting time targets. The health service reported its busiest summer on record, with accident and emergency (A&E) services experiencing strain due to the heatwaves. Officials recorded over 7.2 million A&E attendances between June and August, an increase of approximately 240,000 from the same period last year. The UK experienced five heatwaves over the summer months.
Experts suggest that increasingly hotter summers are reducing the time available for the health service to recover before the onset of winter pressures. Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of health think-tank The King's Fund, described the situation as a "twin crisis with summer joining winter as a major pressure on services."
During this period of high demand, NHS staff managed to treat, admit, or discharge nearly 5.5 million A&E patients within the four-hour target, which the NHS stated was the highest summer total recorded. NHS national medical director Frankie Swords acknowledged the efforts of staff, noting that the health service is entering winter following a particularly demanding summer.
Health Secretary Yvette Cooper paid tribute to NHS staff and stated that extreme demand on the health service is no longer confined to winter. The government has announced £1.5 billion in funding aimed at helping NHS hospitals manage year-round pressures.