“Broken”: Government fails yet again to meet target to end 65-week NHS waits

EMBARGO: Immediate release

Shocking new statistics have revealed that the Government has failed yet again to meet its target to end 65-week NHS waits, with the Liberal Democrats calling for an end to tax hikes on health providers and a rescue plan for care.

The latest statistics on NHS waiting lists have revealed the scale of the Government’s failure to meet targets to end 65-week waits. Figures released today show 23,000 patients waiting longer than the 65 week target.

This target was originally set for March 2024 but was pushed back to September 2024 and has now been missed again.

The total NHS backlog still stands at 7.6 million, with 250,000 waiting over a year for treatment.

Emergency healthcare targets have also been missed. The target for ambulance wait times in urgent cases, such as strokes, is 18 minutes - but the current average waiting time is 42 minutes. This target has not been met in over four years.

The target for A&E services to see 95% of patients within four hours has also been missed: not just on average, but by every A&E in England. Less than three-quarters of people at A&E services are seen within the target four-hour window. It’s been eight years since the 95% target figure was last met. 

More than 12,000 patients a day remain in hospital despite being well enough to be discharged - boosting calls for massive improvements to be made to social care services in order to support patients after they finish hospital treatment. 

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the Government to exempt GPs, care providers, hospices, NHS dentists, and pharmacies from the rise in employers' National Insurance Contributions.

Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health and Care, said:

“Our NHS is broken. Patients are suffering the appalling consequences of years of neglect by the previous Conservative government.

“Millions are still waiting months on end for NHS treatment and this latest missed target only underlines further just how devastating the Conservative Party’s legacy of failure has been for patients.

“The government has rightly committed extra funding for the NHS but they must now understand that we cannot save the NHS without tackling the crisis in social care.

“It is therefore critical that the government reverse their misguided tax hikes on GPs, care homes and pharmacies that will only pile more pressure onto already stretched budgets and make the crisis in our health care services worse.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

NHS Treatment Waiting Times Data here.

Ambulance Response Time Data here.

A&E Attendance Data here.

Delayed Discharges here.