Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at the King’s Fund, said: “The hospital waiting list remains stubbornly high at 7.5 million in March, representing 6.3 million people waiting, often in pain or unable to work, for treatment.
Mr Anandaciva said it was “patients and staff who are bearing the brunt of the deterioration in NHS performance over the past 10 years”.
The Health Secretary has insisted progress is being made, with the largest six-month fall of a quarter of a million fewer over six months, the biggest waiting list reduction in a decade.
Victoria Atkins said: “NHS staff are working tirelessly to cut the waiting list and today’s data shows the biggest six-month reduction in over 10 years outside of the pandemic.
“This is a significant achievement in the context of record pressures and strikes, with NHS analysis showing the list could have fallen by an extra 430,000 since December 2022 without industrial action.”
But even taking the average falls over the last six months, it would take a further nine months – beyond a general election – for the waiting list to reach the number that Rishi Sunak started on, and 16 years for the list to be entirely wiped out.
‘Broken pledges’
Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said: “The Conservatives have failed to meet their pledge to end waits of more than 65 weeks and waiting lists are not falling.
“Rishi Sunak has broken every pledge he’s ever made on the NHS, causing patients to wait for months in pain and discomfort as a result.”
NHS emergency departments also endured their busiest April on record, up 10 per cent on last year, with 2.23 million people attending A&Es across England.
Tim Gardner, assistant director of policy at the Health Foundation, said: “While the pressure of winter has eased, today’s data shows urgent and emergency care is still feeling the strain.
“Over 42,000 patients spent more than 12 hours in A&E before being admitted to a bed last month, and one in 10 with a serious condition such as a stroke or chest pain waited over an hour for an ambulance.”