PA MediaThe federal government has met a key election pledge to ship two million additional NHS appointments in England in its first yr, the prime minister has mentioned.
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 mentioned.
That interval was affected by physician strikes, nevertheless, which might have suppressed the variety of out there appointments.
Sir Keir Starmer mentioned the “milestone is a shot within the arm for our plan to get the NHS again on its toes and lower ready instances”, whereas Well being Secretary Wes Streeting mentioned there was nonetheless “a hell of much more to do”.
However Streeting denied the determine of two million extra appointments was affected by the earlier Conservative authorities’s insurance policies.
“Take a look at the scale of the ready lists total. It is come down 4 months in a row. That is progress, however there’s nonetheless much more to do,” he instructed the Right this moment programme on NEWSTORN Radio 4.
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 had been delivered partly by additional night and weekend working, the federal government mentioned.
Elective care covers a broad vary of deliberate, non-emergency companies, from diagnostic assessments and scans to outpatient appointments, surgical procedures and most cancers therapy.
There have been 31.3 million operations, appointments and assessments 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, might be intently scrutinised to see if this pattern and the pledge have been borne out.
Ministers mentioned NHS England information confirmed the manifesto dedication had been meet seven months early.
Sir Keir mentioned the federal government was “not complacent” and is aware of “the job is not completed”, as he promised additional reforms to ship sooner therapy.
He unveiled plans in January to deal with 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 most important enhancements in slicing ready lists, with the cash out there for hospitals from subsequent yr to spend on capital initiatives.
Well being Secretary Wes Streeting mentioned the NHS was “on the highway 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 had been ready for 7.46 million remedies to be carried out on the finish of December in England – down from 6.28 million sufferers needing 7.48 million remedies in November.
Nonetheless, the newest figures present 73% of A&E sufferers had been handled or assessed inside 4 hours in England in January – properly wanting 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 call 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 mentioned they acquired a letter for an appointment after the date it was alleged to happen.
Nonetheless, almost 1 / 4 mentioned they didn’t know who to contact whereas ready for care.
Liberal Democrat well being spokeswoman Helen Morgan mentioned: “Till the federal government will get a grip of social care, hospitals will stay overwhelmed, backlogged and it’s the sufferers who pays the value.”
She added: “Too many individuals have been tragically let down and left ready in limbo.”
Streeting has beforehand defended the federal government’s timescale for reforming grownup social care in England, with proposals on its long-term funding unlikely to be delivered earlier than 2028.
