NHS England » NHS busier than ever as we head into winter

As the NHS heads into winter busier than ever, new figures today show that staff working in A&E and ambulance services have faced more pressure than in any October in history.

Despite ongoing pressure on hospitals, the overall waiting list has fallen for the first time since February. It fell by nearly 70,000 in September, from 7.64 million to 7.57 million; The estimated number of patients fell by more than 77,000, from 6.42 million to 6.34 million. The waiting list dropped to 195,000 in September 2023.

But monthly performance statistics show hard-working staff made significant progress in reducing waiting lists in September, with the backlog reduced by 70,000 and staff providing 7% more treatments than before the pandemic.

There were 2.36 million A&E attendances last month; This was 6% more than the previous busiest October (2.22 million in October 2023) and came after the most oppressive summer and September months. This was also a record October for emergency claims (567,446). Despite the pressure, A&E performance improved by 2.7 percentage points compared to the same month last year (70.3% versus 73%).

Space availability in emergency departments was affected by delays in patient discharge, including social and community care services; An average of 12,340 beds were filled each day by people who no longer needed to be there.

Ambulance crews responded to more incidents than any other October, more than three-quarters of a million incidents (759,019); this number increased by more than a third (37%) over the same period, with 84,108 of the most serious category 1 incidents for that month. pre-pandemic (61,561 in October 2019).

Call handlers also faced extraordinary demand; 999 calls (1.187 million) more than any other month this year and almost 3% more than the same period last year (1.156 million in October 2023).

The NHS has set out its plans for winter, including 24-hour system control centres, better reporting of long patient delays in emergency departments and emergency departments, and more care in the community, including falls services, virtual wards and same-day urgent care.

There has also been progress in the number of people waiting for elective treatment for more than a year; In September, it decreased by 33,321 people, falling below 250,000 (249,343). This is a decrease of over 140,000 since September 2023 and over 50,000 since the end of June 2024.

Figures for September show the NHS has failed to meet its target of almost completely eliminating 65-week waiting times by September, with 22,903 patients still waiting that long. But thanks to the hard work of hospital teams, 65-week waits are down more than 90% from the peak (233,051 in June 2021), with just 12 providers accounting for more than two-fifths of the remaining waits.

It was a record September for diagnostic activity, with 2.37 million tests and checks delivered, an increase of one-fifth compared to before the pandemic (1.95 million in September 2019).
So far this year, more than a quarter of a million people have gone for a cancer check each month following an urgent referral; of these, 256,996 were performed in September and staff performed 53,861 cancer treatments.

NHS National Medical Director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: “The NHS is heading into winter more under pressure and busier than ever before; It’s another record month for A&E and ambulance services before we start to see further pressure caused by colder weather and the spread of winter viruses.

“Despite record demand we are seeing 10% more A&E patients in four hours than last year, it is vital that people help us by simply going to A&E or calling 999 in a life-threatening emergency, using 111 for other situations. If appropriate, getting Covid, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines.

“However, thanks to the efforts of our fantastic staff, these figures also show how they are taking advantage of the latest innovations, including at surgical centres, to reduce waiting lists and offer 7% more treatments than in the same month pre-pandemic, as well as more tests and services than in any other September.” We are checking.

“As we continue to treat record numbers and deal with record demand, it is clear that we still have a long way to go to return performance to the levels patients expect, and we will continue to work with the government on the 10 Year Health Plan to address these issues.” Patients’ needs.”

Health and Social Care Minister Wes Streeting said: “It is pleasing to see that progress is finally being made on the backlog.

Since ending the strikes, we have been increasing the delivery of an extra 40,000 appointments each week.

“The extra investment in the Budget for new surgery centers and scanners, and reforms announced this week to boost productivity, will further shorten waiting lists and enable patients to be seen faster.”