WIREDGOV

Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of The King’s Fund, responded to the latest NHS waiting list figures

‘These latest figures come one year on from the government announcing its Elective Reform Plan, meant to improve the efficiency and accessibility of non-urgent surgeries like hip and knee replacements, and the fall in the waiting lists since then is welcome. But it cannot be described as transformational with waiting lists only falling by 4% to 7.3 million since Labour took power despite this latest drop of 87,000. Even though this only represents a small dent in the overall waiting list, we should not underestimate the relief and improvement in quality of life for those tens of thousands of people who have got the treatment they have long waited for.

‘This slow progress is being mirrored in other key areas where the government is trying to show fast rather than incremental change. The 2025/26 NHS guidance set the target of seeing 78% of A&E patients within four-hours by March this year. It appears unlikely that ministers will be able to hit this mark with 74% of patients being seen within four-hours last month. It also calls into question the feasibility of the 82% four-hour A&E wait target by March 2027 as set out in the medium-term planning guidance.

‘The political and medical necessity to improve this sluggish rate of progress will come into sharp focus over the coming year. It will see the government attempt to turn the ambitions set out in the 10 Year Health Plan into reality starting with new legislation to abolish NHS England expected to be introduced shortly. The government believes this will reduce unnecessary bureaucratic friction, cut costs and re-establish political accountability but a restructure on this scale risks taking NHS leaders minds away from boosting current performance and patient outcomes suffering as a result.

‘There will be a wave of other plans also announced, ranging from addressing cancer services to creating a stable NHS workforce but one area notable for its lack of a plan is social care. The Casey Commission is due to report its initial findings this year, but its substantive recommendations will not appear until 2028. Even then the political willingness to follow through on recommendations that could prove challenging will be tempered by the prospect of a general election shortly after.

‘Meanwhile, the social care sector continues to struggle with financial difficulties and the potential for even more acute workforce shortages because of the government’s crackdown on health and care visas. This underlying and unaddressed problem and its knock-on effects for the broader healthcare system will hamper ministers' efforts to deliver the transformational change to the NHS, and for people across the country, they spoke of during the previous general election.’

Notes to editors