Commenting on the latest NHS England performance and winter
SitRep data, Nuffield Trust Director of Research and Policy Dr
Becks Fisher said:
“The new year ushers in mixed tidings for the NHS in England.
This week's elective reform plan promises welcome long-term
actions to cut waits for planned treatment. But it arrives amid a
stark backdrop of winter pressures affecting the quality and
dignity of care many patients are receiving from the NHS.
“The waiting list for planned care continued to drop in November,
which will fuel hope it is finally moving in the right direction.
The government has a new interim target to have 65% of patients
getting hospital treatment within 18 weeks of referral by April
2026. But with the proportion of patients seen within this
timeframe now at 59% - and figures hovering under 60% for the
past two years – hitting it will be no mean feat for trusts
battling day-to-day pressures with constrained finances.
“The government's new plan won't solve the annual winter crisis
in urgent care, which is now hitting in earnest. During December,
29% of patients waited more than four hours and 12% of patients
waited more than12 hours in A&E. Hospital beds occupied by
patients with flu spiralled to 5,139 a day on average in the
latest weekly data. Meanwhile, there were 38,807 ambulance
handover delays of over half an hour. The time lost due to delays
of this length or longer is equivalent to just over 4,000 12-hour
paramedic shifts a week.
“The government's latest moves to improve planned hospital care
and finally bring much-needed reform to the crumbling social care
sector are encouraging. But here and now, patients are facing
another cruel winter. To break the cycle of winter crisis after
winter crisis, we need to see the same long-term thinking – and
long-term funding – applied to urgent care. An equivalent plan
for these services can't come soon enough.”
Ends.
Notes to editors
The latest monthly performance figures from NHS England can be
found at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/
