England officially breached the 18 week target at national level in December 2015, after unofficially breaching it since October. The cause: long term rapid growth... Watch the video
In spite of record pressures on A&E waiting times, the English NHS managed to have a fairly normal January for elective care.
At the end of the last government, waiting times were bad but no longer getting worse
Over-one-year waiters shot up by 20 per cent, as admission rates slumped in the face of record A&E pressures.
Very long waits improved as the NHS increased inpatient and daycase treatments
At the end of July, less than 49 per cent of hospital services were achieving the 18 week RTT target.
While the NHS made slow progress towards its next target, the longest waits and mental health waits deteriorated
Waiting lists and waiting times are overall still getting worse
Clinical risk on the waiting list continues to grow
When financial penalties were lifted from referral-to-treatment waiting times back in March, I said that looser waiting list management might be the first clear sign... Watch the video