Publisher Health

Hospitals in England have failed to hit key targets to tackle the backlogs in cancer care and routine treatment.

Waiting times show too many patients were still facing long waits at the end of March.

The targets were to eliminate 18-month waits for planned care, such as knee and hip replacements, and to bring 62-day cancer waits to pre-pandemic levels.

NHS England said huge progress had been made, particularly on routine care.

The numbers waiting over 18 months for treatment peaked in September 2021 at nearly 125,000.

By the end of March, just over 10,700 were waiting that long – but NHS England said around 4,000 of them were complex cases or patients who had been offered treatment but had chosen to wait.

Half of the long waiters were concentrated in 10 NHS trusts.

Overall, there are now more than 7 million people on a hospital waiting list, which is nearly 3 million higher than it was before the pandemic started, although in recent months the number has stopped rising.

Ministers have warned it could be next spring before the number starts falling.

Last spring a tumour was found on Phil Martlew’s kidney.

Doctors said there was an 80% chance it was cancerous.

Within two months he had a pre-op assessment, but delays meant it was seven months before the tumour was eventually removed in January 2023.

The 68-year-old from Merseyside said the treatment, when he received it, was “exemplary”.

But he said the wait placed a huge mental strain on him.

“The wait was enormously stressful and the thought that the tumour may be cancerous is on your mind every day.

“It’s like the film Alien. I kept thinking that this thing’s inside of me and I just wanted it out.

“All the medical staff who dealt with my care have been fabulous.

“I’m annoyed about the admin and management of it.”

The NHS had already acknowledged it was going to miss the cancer target.

It was set a goal of bringing the number of people waiting more than 62 days for treatment back to pre-pandemic levels of 14,200.

By the end of March more than 19,200 were waiting that long – although that is also well down from the peak in September 2022 of nearly 34,000.

NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said “great strides” were being made in the face of “incredible pressure”.

As well as the demands placed on hospitals by flu and Covid this winter, the NHS has also had to contend with managing the impact of strikes by nurses, junior doctors, physios and ambulance workers which have caused the postponement of more than 500,000 appointments and operations.

“There is still much work to be done, but these are remarkable achievements given all the NHS has had to contend with,” added Ms Pritchard.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “I promised I would cut NHS waiting lists and we are delivering.

“Reducing 18-month waits by over 90% is huge progress, and it is testament to the hard work of NHS staff who have achieved this despite one of the busiest winters on record.”

At the end of last year the National Audit Office warned the plan to tackle the backlog in treatment was at serious risk.

A lack of staff and hospital beds was affecting productivity, it warned.

It has meant the NHS is still doing fewer planned treatments, such as knee and hip replacements, than before the pandemic.

Tim Mitchell, from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said it was “disappointing” the targets had not been met.

He said NHS staff were “doing the very best they could”, but were being hampered by the “chronic staff vacancies that impede the day-to-day running of the NHS”.

He urged ministers to published the much-delayed NHS workforce plan which will set out how staffing shortages will be tackled.

The plan is expected in the coming weeks.