Three million in NHS England waiting lists had not had any care since GP referral | NHS
New data reveals approximately 6 million people who need NHS treatment in England who have never had more attention since they joined the hospital waiting list, and new data also reveals.
NHS numbers in England previously showed that 2.99 million out of 6.23 million patients (48 %) pending care had no first date with a specialist or diagnostic test since his referral by GP.
The Patient Society described the situation as an “invisible waiting standing crisis” that was “amazing” in size, where millions live in forgetting, with their deteriorating health.
The data raises doubts about the frequent Keir Starmer pledge that 92 % of patients will be treated within 18 weeks of referral by 2029 – its main promise to the voters on health. The target has not been hit since 2015, and in May 61 % was treated on time.
On another sign of the difficulty of achieving this goal, data shows that a third of patients who do not see 3 million – one million people – have already waited more than 18 weeks without receiving any care.
This is the first time that the phenomenon of “non -visible patients” has appeared as part of the great challenge facing the government in its engine “to restore NHS on its feet. To date, the discussion on NHS accumulation has focused on the number of treatments due to their receipt and their number of waiting – currently 7.36 million and 6.23 meters, respectively.
“If it is accurate, it is besieging 3 million people in an invisible waiting list crisis, they are stuck without basic diagnostic tests for the first dates while their circumstances are exacerbated,” said Rachel Power, CEO of the Patient Society.
“The scale is amazing, because nearly half of the patients in the waiting list did not see anyone. This is not a health care service; this is a collapse.
“These are not just statistics. They examine their phones daily for hospital calls that never come, unable to plan their lives while their symptoms deteriorate.”
The numbers were collected and analyzed by a health data specialist MBI HealthWhich helps dozens of NHS boxes improve the treatment times. Its results have shared with the guardian.
Barry Malholland, the company’s founder and former NHS manager, said that the health service should see the waiting list as a “introduction, not accumulation”, because many people did not get a “first clinical connection” after joining it. In recent years, the ministers and heads of NHS have made the number of people waiting for 12 or 18 months to take care of their priority.
“There are a lot of people who have already waited a long time without seeing anyone – 3 million invisible patients who have not received the first contact.
“Unless this is dealt with, you will not achieve this goal of seeing and treating patients within 18 weeks.
“From the government’s point of view, it will be really difficult to achieve a pledge to return to 18 weeks by 2029 if this huge group of patients is not seen more quickly.”
He added: “We will never remove the waiting list if we do not fix the point in which patients enter the system, and the long delay begins.”
NHS England has admitted the wide number of people who had not sponsored NHS since they joined the waiting list. Of 7.3 meters treatments were waiting, it was 4.7 meters-nearly two-thirds (64 %)-for people who had no first consultation with specialized tests or diagnosis so far.
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He added that 1.6 meters of this 4.7 meters have already exceeded the maximum of waiting time for treatment for 18 weeks.
“These numbers are horrific. Behind each of these numbers, there is a person who suffers from pain, creates about his health, and they are desperately waiting for the first contact from the doctor,” said Alison Bennett, the spokesman for liberal democratic health.
“This is not a problem that appeared overnight; it’s the direct result of the Conservative Party that shows our NHS for years. It is unacceptable that millions of people are still in a state of forgetfulness, while their circumstances may worsen.”
She added that the ministers will not “reform” NHS unless they reform social welfare to cancel the blocked hospital ban.
MBI analysis also found that medical specialties have the largest number of non -visible patients were ear, nose, throat, orthopedic surgery, eye care, digestive diseases and gynecology. Malholland added that between 67 % and 75 % of the waiting lists consist of these patients.
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare did not comment on 3 million non -visible patients.
“Thanks to this government, reforms and hard work for NHS employees, we have reduced the waiting list by more than 260,000 since July 2024, which also fell for the first time in 17 years in April and May outside the epidemic. Moreover, we also delivered 4.6 million appointments – more than the 2m doubling of it.
“This government provides the basic reform needed to convert our NHS, and our 10 -year health plan will be based on this progress, to ensure that our goal is to achieve that 92 % of patients do not wait for more than 18 weeks for treatment by March 2029.”
“If we re-focus on accessing the first contact of these patients to have a forgetfulness-a tip of high-quality data-we can turn the tide, drop the optional list and improve the experience of people who are waiting for treatment.”