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Good progress on NHS waiting times
The number of NHS patients waiting longer than 12 months for an operation has fallen from nearly 22,000 at the end of March last year, to 134 at the end of April this year.
This represents an important milestone on the way to meeting the NHS Plan target that no one should wait longer than six months for an operation by the end of 2005.
The number of patients waiting over 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months are all lower than in April 1997. The number waiting longer than 9 months has fallen by 43% since March 2002, while the number waiting longer than 6 months fell by 18%.
Only a few years ago an urgently referred cancer patient could wait up to 6 weeks for an outpatient appointment. Now over 98 per cent of people urgently referred by their GP with suspected cancer are seen by specialist within two weeks - a significant improvement on 63 per cent in 1997.
The total number of people waiting for treatment rose slightly in April by 0.9% to 1,001,332. However, despite this very small seasonal rise the list figure is the second lowest month for a decade and overall the April figures indicate significant achievement in eliminating long waits.
Sir Nigel Crisp, the Chief Executive of the NHS, confirmed the waiting list is expected to fall below one million by the summer, and then continue to decrease.
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