News

14.07.17

Six-month waits for treatment soar as NHS performance slips further

A&E performance is continuing to slide, as data released this week by NHS England revealed that targets were still not being met.

In figures for May, it was reported that 89.7% of patients in emergency wards were seen within four hours, a decline from April, where the figure was 90.5% and for the same month in 2016 when it was 90.3%.

On top of that, only 84.6% of type 1 A&E units hit the four-hour target compared to 85.4% the previous May, and 85.7% in April.

The 18-week target for planned care was missed, although performance in this area did see improvement in May compared to April.

However, this was counteracted by the fact that the amount of people waiting more than six months for treatment in May went up drastically by 4.7% compared to April – up to 142,416 people. Shockingly, this figure is a jump of 185.8% compared to May 2016 when only 49,834 patients were waiting longer than six months.

Ian Eardley, vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), said that the performance data released today represented a “mixed picture”.

“On the positive side, the deterioration in performance against the 18-week target has slowed slightly and delayed discharges from hospital seem to be reducing compared with other recent months,” he argued.

“However, the number of patients waiting more than six months for treatment has increased dramatically even in just the last month.

“We have warned this could be a consequence of deprioritising the 18-week target and it will not have been helped by decisions over winter to delay planned surgery to help prioritise emergency patients.”

Eardley added it was “disappointing” that A&E performance is worsening even though this is now a higher priority for NHS England and the government.

“The NHS needs to better understand why this has happened and whether recently announced measures are sufficient,” he added. “Patients in the NHS can continue to expect good quality treatment but today’s data underlines the challenge currently facing us to improve timely access to surgery and other treatment.”

Have you got a story to tell? Would you like to become an NHE columnist? If so, click here.

Comments

There are no comments. Why not be the first?

Add your comment

national health executive tv

more videos >

latest news

View all News

comment

NHS England dementia director prescribes rugby for mental health and dementia patients

23/09/2019NHS England dementia director prescribes rugby for mental health and dementia patients

Reason to celebrate as NHS says watching rugby can be good for your mental ... more >
Peter Kyle MP: It’s time to say thank you this Public Service Day

21/06/2019Peter Kyle MP: It’s time to say thank you this Public Service Day

Taking time to say thank you is one of the hidden pillars of a society. Bei... more >

editor's comment

26/06/2020Adapting and Innovating

Matt Roberts, National Health Executive Editorial Lead. NHE May/June 2020 Edition We’ve been through so much as a health sector and a society in recent months with coronavirus and nothing can take away from the loss and difficulties that we’ve faced but it vital we also don’t disregard the amazing efforts we’ve witnessed. Staff have gone above and beyond, whole hospitals and trusts have flexed virtually at will to meet demand and pressures and we’ve... read more >

last word

Haseeb Ahmad: ‘We all have a role to play in getting innovations quicker’

Haseeb Ahmad: ‘We all have a role to play in getting innovations quicker’

Haseeb Ahmad, president of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), sits down with National Health Executive as part of our Last Word Q&A series. Would you talk us throu more > more last word articles >

interviews

Matt Hancock says GP recruitment is on the rise to support ‘bedrock of the NHS’

24/10/2019Matt Hancock says GP recruitment is on the rise to support ‘bedrock of the NHS’

Today, speaking at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) annual... more >

the scalpel's daily blog

Covid-19 can signal a new deal with the public on health

28/08/2020Covid-19 can signal a new deal with the public on health

Danny Mortimer, Chief Executive, NHS Employers & Deputy Chief Executive, NHS Confederation The common enemy of coronavirus united the public side by side wi... more >
read more blog posts from 'the scalpel' >

healthcare events

events calendar

back

September 2020

forward
mon tue wed thu fri sat sun
31 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11

featured articles

View all News