Improving NHS performance not going to be quick or easy

• The total waiting list for procedures and appointments has increased to 7.60 million in May;
• Some 74.6% of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged from A&E departments within four hours in June, up from 74.0% in May;
• There were 2.29 million attendances at A&Es and 536,884 emergency admissions across England in June, making it the busiest June in records going back to 2010;
• The average category 2 ambulance response time for June was 34 minutes and 38 seconds, up from May when it was 32 minutes and 44 seconds;
• The category 1 average response time was 8 minutes and 21 seconds in June, compared to 8 minutes and 16 seconds in May;
• Pre-pandemic: the England average in June 2019 was 7 minutes 07 seconds for category 1 and 22 minutes 28 seconds for category 2;
• Some 76.4% of cancer patients were told they had cancer or had it definitively ruled out within 28 days, against the target of 75%. 

Responding to the latest NHS England performance statistics Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said:

“The rising waiting lists and surging demand these new figures show can only reinforce the new Health and Social Care Secretary’s assertion that the NHS is broken. Staff are working flat out to deliver for their patients, but a decade of underinvestment coupled with the pandemic, some very difficult winters and more than a year of industrial action have taken their toll on NHS performance, staff morale and patient satisfaction.

“A new government is an opportunity to transform the health service for the better and we welcome its recognition that turning around performance is not going to be quick or easy. This is going to be a long-term project and NHS leaders and their teams will require funding and support if they are to achieve key performance targets, some of which have not been hit for almost a decade.

“The Secretary of State is highlighting the right issues, and ending disputes with junior doctors and with GPs must continue to be a priority if the NHS is going to start making real inroads into cutting waiting lists and improving performance.

“We also welcome the announcement of the independent review of NHS performance to be led by Lord Ara Darzi. We look forward to working with Lord Darzi on this review which will feed into the government’s upcoming 10-year plan for the NHS.”