NHS hits interim 18-week waiting time target for first time in years... but 7.1 MILLION people are still waiting for routine treatment

The NHS has met its interim target on reducing 18-week treatment waits for the first time in years, after the waiting list fell by more than half a million patients since July 2024.

NHS England today announced that 65.3 per cent of patients were treated within 18 weeks for routine treatment - the biggest year-on-year improvement in waiting times in 16 years.

The overall NHS waiting list fell by more than 312,000 people over the past year to 7.11 million, the lowest level in three-and-a-half years and down by more than half a million since July 2024.

The improvement means approaching half a million fewer people were waiting longer than 18 weeks for NHS treatment in March this year.

The number of patients facing the longest waits for treatment is also at its lowest level for six years. The number waiting more than a year has dropped by almost half over the past 12 months, and by more than 69 per cent since July 2024.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: 'Our plan for the NHS is working. This is the biggest cut in waiting lists in a single month in 17 years. It means we are right on track to deliver the fastest reduction in waiting times in the history of the NHS.

'That is thanks to the government's investment, modernisation and the remarkable efforts of staff right across the country. Lots done, lots more to do.'

The NHS also recorded its best year on record for elective (non-urgent) care, which includes joint replacements, cataract surgery and diagnostic tests.

More than half a million more people started treatment or completed care compared with last year, taking the total to more than 18.6 million over the last 12 months.

But despite the improvement, experts warned major pressures remain across the health service.

More than 1.9 million people were still waiting for an NHS-funded diagnostic test in March 2026, up from 1.7 million a year earlier.

Among those patients, the number waiting six weeks or longer for a diagnostic test rose from 312,915 in March 2025 to 406,925 in March 2026.

The NHS said the figures came after it delivered more tests, checks and scans over the last financial year than at any point in its history, carrying out a record 29.9 million diagnostic procedures.

The improvements came despite mounting pressure on frontline services. The NHS faced record demand in A&E departments, soaring ambulance callouts and unprecedented numbers of GP appointments over the past year.

NHS analysis also showed strikes in 2025/26 led to the loss of an estimated 171,776 appointments and procedures.

NHS chief executive Sir Jim Mackey said: 'This is a huge moment for the NHS. Hitting our targets for the first time in years hasn't happened by accident – it's been down to an absolutely enormous effort from NHS staff up and down the country.

'Today's achievement goes beyond a set of remarkable statistics – it shows that we're making real inroads on the things that matter to our patients and communities.

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'That our staff have been able to achieve this in a year that's seen the busiest NHS winter on record, that's been interrupted through industrial action and that's seen the biggest shake-up of the NHS in its history makes today's achievement all the more extraordinary.'

However, several experts have urged not to be too excited about the milestone.

Dr David Griffiths, a GP and chief medical officer at Teladoc Health UK, said: 'The headline figures may not tell the whole story: patients may spend weeks or months waiting for the scans and tests needed before they can even enter the secondary care pathway. That's before we even consider GP access.'

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King's Fund, said: 'This is significant progress, but it may prove to be progress bought at a high price.

'This amount of additional funding will be hard to sustain in the current economic climate.

'Ministers can celebrate today's milestone, but they cannot sprint their way to a lasting solution.'

Nuffield Trust fellow Bea Taylor added: 'It's hard to feel confident that the NHS will be able to sustain this level of progress on waiting times over the coming years to meet the government's headline target of 92 per cent of patients seen within 18 weeks.'