NHS staff delivered a record number of cancer checks and
treatments in July, despite five days of industrial action.
A record 236,263 people got a cancer diagnosis or the disease
ruled out within 28 days in July - meeting the Faster Diagnosis
Standard - while 21,633 patients started cancer treatment
within 62 days, the highest since the standard was introduced in
October 2023.
In the year to June, the NHS delivered a total of 5.2 million
additional operations, appointments and tests compared to the
year before.
The record-breaking month for the NHS came amid five days of
strikes by resident doctors from Friday 25 July to Wednesday 30
July. More care was delivered during the July 2025 resident
doctors' strike than in the 5-day June 2024 walkout, with NHS
analysis estimating that an additional 11,071 appointments and
procedures went ahead.
While the waiting list rose by 33,627 in July, the NHS delivered
more treatments than the same month last year - 1.64 million, up
2.6% on July 2024 (1.60 million).
The number of waits longer than a year are down more than a third
(191,648) on last July (290,326). The proportion of patients
waiting less than 18 weeks was 61.3%.
Many more people came forward for elective care, with the number
of new joiners to the waiting list up 5% on last July (1.95
million vs 1.86 million).
The NHS delivered a record 2.6 million overall tests and checks,
up 4% on 2.5 million last July and up 26% on pre-pandemic (2
million in July 2019).
The latest figures also reveal NHS urgent and emergency services
faced their busiest August ever with 2.3 million A&E
attendances and 775,330 ambulance incidents – up 5% and 6%
respectively on the year before.
Despite this pressure, the average response time for Category 2
incidents, such as heart attacks and strokes, was the fastest for
more than four years – since May 2021 - at 27 minutes 3 seconds.
For the first time, the NHS has also published new Faster
Diagnosis Standard data split by those who have been diagnosed
with cancer and those who have had it ruled out.
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS National Medical
Director, said: “Industrial action in the NHS is
never easy for patients, but despite last month's disruption
record number of cancer patients got the care they needed.
“While urgent ambulance response times were the fastest they've
been in over four years - even as A&E and ambulance staff saw
more patients in August than ever before.
"These results show the NHS is always there for patients — no
matter what is thrown its way.
“We continue to encourage anyone with worrying symptoms and
concerns to come forward for care and as always, to only use 999
and A&E in life-threatening emergencies with 111 available
for other conditions.”
Health and Social Care Secretary said: “One year ago, I made a promise
that we would deliver two million extra appointments in our first
year - not only did we do this in just five months, but we have
obliterated that target, carrying out over five million.
“That is testament to the relentless efforts of NHS staff across
the country, alongside key reforms to get waiting times down for
patients. Our 10 Year Health Plan will go even further, driving
care out of our busy hospitals and into local communities as we
deliver the radical transformation required to fix our broken
health service.
“Earlier this week, I set out our vision for a more transparent
NHS by publishing new league tables. Today we are continuing on
that path with newly published cancer diagnosis data. It is only
by shining a light on unacceptable disparities that we can tackle
the postcode lottery of care. Our National Cancer Plan will set
out how we will put the NHS back at the forefront of global
cancer care."
Background
- The latest NHS monthly performance statistics are available
here.
