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Stark NHS waiting times reveal ‘huge mountain’ Government has to climb to fix ‘broken’ health service
Hospitals had cut wait lists but progress has been undone
NHS waiting lists have risen to their highest level this year at 7.6million.
The second monthly rise in a row is a setback for hospitals and shows the new Government has a mountain to climb to fix the “broken” health service.
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Medics also said they had the busiest ever June in A&E with 2.3million visitors and extra stress from the heatwave and doctors’ strikes.
England’s medical director, Prof Sir Stephen Powis, admitted: “Everyone recognises that waiting times are currently far from what the public have a right to expect.”
Figures show the number of people waiting for treatment increased from 6.29m in March to 6.38m in May.
The number had reduced between September and March but has rebounded.
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The new government has a tough road ahead
Professor Vivien Lees
Meanwhile the NHS continued to miss targets on seeing people quickly in A&E and starting cancer treatment on time.
It comes as the new Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, announced a “warts and all” audit of NHS performance.
Sarah Scobie, of the Nuffield Trust think-tank, said: “These figures underline the enormous uphill battle the new government faces to get the NHS back on track.”
The Health Foundation said they were “a stark reminder of the huge mountain to climb”.
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Professor Vivien Lees of the Royal College of Surgeons said: “The new government has a tough road ahead to cut NHS waiting times as promised.
“Hundreds of thousands of patients have been on waiting lists for months and even years.
“They will be hopeful that plans for the NHS outlined during the election will be put into action quickly.”
Labour takes first steps to NHS reform
The Labour Party pledged in its election campaign to clear the surgery backlog and get the NHS hitting targets again.
New Health Secretary Wes Streeting has first ordered a review of NHS performance to identify areas to repair first.
Writing in The Sun on Thursday, Mr Streeting said: “It’s going to take time to turn the NHS around - we were honest about that before the election.
"Sticking plasters won’t be enough to heal it. It will require fundamental reform.”
He has appointed top surgeon Lord Ara Darzi to carry out the review and has demanded his officials turn over whatever information he requires.
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Streeting has already met with junior doctors in the British Medical Association in a bid to bring their strikes to an end.
He also met the British Dental Association on Monday to talk about reforming the failing dentistry service.
NHS TARGETS VS REALITY
NHS hospitals and ambulance services in England are off track on most of their performance targets.
Here are the most recent data for May and June:
Target: See 95% of A&E visitors within four hours Reality: 75%
Target: Respond to Category 2 ambulance calls within 18 minutes Reality: 34 minutes 38 seconds
Target: Treat 92% of waiting list patients within 18 weeks Reality: 59%
Target: Treat 85% of cancer patients within 2 months of first referral Reality: 66%
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