PA MediaThe federal government has met a key election pledge to ship two million further NHS appointments in England in its first yr, the prime minister has stated.
The goal was achieved between July and November final yr, when there have been nearly 2.2 million extra elective care appointments in comparison with the identical interval in 2023, the federal government stated.
That interval was affected by physician strikes, nonetheless, which might have suppressed the variety of obtainable appointments.
Sir Keir Starmer stated the “milestone is a shot within the arm for our plan to get the NHS again on its ft and lower ready occasions”, whereas NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard stated there was “rather more to do to slash ready occasions for sufferers”.
Delivering an additional two million NHS operations, procedures and appointments a yr in England was a central Labour manifesto pledge – and was included in an inventory of six first steps it might absorb workplace.
The extra appointments have been delivered partly by further night and weekend working, the federal government stated.
Elective care covers a broad vary of deliberate, non-emergency companies, from diagnostic checks and scans to outpatient appointments, surgical procedures and most cancers remedy.
There have been 31.3 million operations, appointments and checks between July and November 2024, in comparison with 29.1 million over the identical interval in 2023, throughout which there have been over a dozen days of junior medical doctors strikes.
The figures for the yr as much as July 2025, a yr on from the election, shall be intently scrutinised to see if this pattern and the pledge have been borne out.
Ministers stated NHS England information confirmed the manifesto dedication had been meet seven months early.
Sir Keir stated the federal government was “not complacent” and is aware of “the job is not finished”, as he promised additional reforms to ship quicker remedy.
He unveiled plans in January to tackle the NHS backlog, which is without doubt one of the authorities’s key missions.
The federal government has introduced an additional £40m in funding for trusts who make the largest enhancements in chopping ready lists, with the cash obtainable for hospitals from subsequent yr to spend on capital initiatives.
Well being Secretary Wes Streeting stated the NHS was “on the street to restoration” and there have been now round 160,000 fewer sufferers on ready lists than when Labour took workplace in July final yr.
NHS England figures confirmed final week that the variety of folks on the ready record dropped for the fourth consecutive month to its lowest since April 2023.
An estimated 6.24 million sufferers have been ready for 7.46 million therapies to be carried out on the finish of December in England – down from 6.28 million sufferers needing 7.48 million therapies in November.
Nevertheless, the latest figures show 73% of A&E patients were treated or assessed within four hours in England in January – effectively in need of the 95% goal and a key benchmark of A&E efficiency.
And the numbers of A&E sufferers enduring lengthy waits went up in January, with almost 160,000 ready longer than 4 hours for a mattress to be discovered after a choice to confess them – many on chairs or trolleys.
The federal government’s announcement on its election pledge comes as a report by the King’s Fund thinktank highlighted inefficiency within the NHS system in England.
It features a ballot of greater than 1,600 individuals who had used the well being service within the earlier 12 months.
One in 5 of these surveyed stated they acquired a letter for an appointment after the date it was purported to happen.
Nevertheless, almost 1 / 4 stated they didn’t know who to contact whereas ready for care.
Liberal Democrat well being spokeswoman Helen Morgan stated: “Till the federal government will get a grip of social care, hospitals will stay overwhelmed, backlogged and it’s the sufferers who pays the worth.”
She added: “Too many individuals have been tragically let down and left ready in limbo.”
Streeting has beforehand defended the government’s timescale for reforming adult social care in England, with proposals on its long-term funding unlikely to be delivered earlier than 2028.
