A scathing parliamentary report has delivered a stark warning that the NHS in England is failing to cut waiting times as promised in its official recovery plan, despite the investment of billions of pounds.
Stalled Progress and Broken Promises
The influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found that improvements in providing faster tests and treatment have "appeared to have stalled". This raises serious doubts over the Labour government's key pledge to voters to "fix the NHS" and restore the 18-week waiting time guarantee for hospital care by 2029.
The cross-party committee's analysis revealed a series of missed targets and persistent delays. Key findings include:
- The total elective care waiting list stands at 7.4 million clinical pathways, a reduction of only about 220,000 since Labour took power in July 2024.
- Far more patients than promised are still waiting over 18 weeks for non-urgent care, with 192,000 people waiting at least a year in July, despite a pledge to eradicate such long waits.
- For diagnostic tests like X-rays and scans, 22% of patients wait more than six weeks, a figure that was supposed to be slashed to just 5%.
Costly Reorganisation and Political Fallout
The report also levelled sharp criticism at Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting for their unplanned reorganisation of the NHS in England. The PAC deemed this move not "prudent", highlighting that no money was set aside for it and no impact assessment was conducted. The committee drew unfavourable comparisons to the mismanagement seen with the HS2 rail project.
This gloomy verdict stands in sharp contrast to the optimistic picture painted by Wes Streeting just last week, where he insisted "The NHS is on the road to recovery" and pointed to a shrinking waiting list and improved ambulance times.
The conclusions are politically alarming for the government, coming at a time when Reform UK has recently supplanted Labour as the party voters see as having the best healthcare policies.
Patient Impact and Expert Reaction
The PAC sounded the alarm on the real-world consequences of these delays for patients. Clive Betts, the committee's deputy chair and a Labour MP, stated: "Every unnecessary day that a patient spends on an NHS waiting list is both one of increased anxiety for that person’s unresolved case and, if they are undiagnosed, a steady increasing of risk to their life."
The report was met with strong reactions from health groups and opposition parties. The Patients Association said it "lays bare what patients have felt for over a decade," while the Liberal Democrats labelled the situation "a shambles" and said the report should "set off alarm bells in No 10".
In defence of its record, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care stated that the government had "inherited a broken NHS" and had taken "immediate and robust action", citing that waiting lists are falling for the first time in 15 years and that over 5 million extra appointments have been delivered.
