The number of people waiting for NHS treatment in England has increased every month for the past two years, reaching a new record of 6.6 million patients in May.
It comes after the latest survey of patient experiences of GPs, also published on Thursday, showed patients were putting off booking appointments because they found it too difficult and reduced satisfaction with family doctors.
The number of people waiting more than a year to be screened reached 330,000, up from the previous month, although the two-year wait more than halved between December and May.
The Government and NHS England have said they want to abolish year-plus waiting lists by March 2025 and those of more than two years – except by patient choice – by the end of this month.
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The charity Health Foundation said “the alarm bells are ringing loudest in emergency services”. Although emergency department visits fell slightly to 2,183,670 in June, down slightly from the previous month, 41 percent of patients waited more than four hours in major emergency departments before being seen.
More than 130,000 patients who needed a bed waited more than four hours in A&E, with 22,034 people waiting more than 12 hours between the decision to be admitted and a bed being made available.
The average response time for the most urgent ambulance responses in England – those dealing with life-threatening illnesses or injuries – also rose to more than nine minutes last month, up from eight minutes and 36 seconds in May. The average target time is seven minutes.
Cancer waiting times were generally better than January, when the NHS’s performance against seven of its nine cancer waiting time targets fell to record lows.
However, most of the cancer service’s targets were not met and some were at their worst levels. Nearly 40% of patients who should have been treated within two months of an urgent referral from their GP did not start treatment, and a quarter of patients requiring treatment within two months of a consultant upgrade, they didn’t get it.
Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said the number of patients waiting long periods for emergency care remained “unacceptable and should not be seen as the new normal”.
Tim Gardner, senior policy fellow at the Health Foundation, said there was a fundamental problem with the health and social care system: “Chronic workforce shortages, lack of bed capacity and delays in patient discharges are causing these pressures.”
However, Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said the service was making good progress in some areas, citing a record number of diagnostic tests and checks in May and a reduction in the number of people waiting more than two years for treatment.
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“There is no doubt that the NHS is still facing significant pressure, from rising Covid admissions, thousands of staff absent due to the virus, the heatwave and record demand for ambulances and emergency care.”
Separate figures show that patient satisfaction with GPs is falling, with 72% of patients in England reporting a good experience of their GP practice at the start of 2022, down from 83% the previous year and 82% in 2020
More than half of patients – 55% – who needed an appointment said they had avoided making an appointment in the past year, compared to 42% in 2021, and more than a quarter (27%) had not booked a class because they also found it difficult, up from just 11% in 2021.
Additional reporting from PA
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