‘A never-ending queue’ – hospitals where waits are getting worse

Almost a quarter of hospitals in England have seen waiting times worsen since the government published its plan to reduce the backlog a year ago, according to BBC analysis.

Reaching the 18-week wait target for treatments such as knee and hip operations was the key commitment in Labor’s manifesto for the health service, and last January it set out how it would put hospitals on the right track.

While progress is being made nationally, 31 hospital trusts have regressed and a further 17 have made little progress across the 129 services examined.

The most troubled hospitals reported facing a variety of challenges, including understaffing, doctor strikes and problems with computer systems.

Mary Waterhouse, 72, from Blackpool, is one of many patients facing delays at a hospital where waits are getting worse.

She suffers from arthritis and has been receiving treatment from Blackpool Hospitals NHS Trust since 2022. She initially received steroid injections, but was put back on the waiting list at the end of 2024 as her condition worsened.

She had to wait eight months to be assessed, but by then her health had deteriorated so much that she was told she would need hip and knee replacements on both sides.

She chose not to undergo treatment. “My arthritis was too advanced – and there were too many operations. I decided to live with the pain. I’ve had to wait a long time at every stage since I was first referred. It’s like being in a never-ending queue.

“I now rely on a scooter to get around. I can only walk short distances on crutches. If I had received faster treatment, things might have been better.”

Deborah Alsina, from Arthritis UK, said Mary’s case was typical of the problems faced by thousands of people with arthritis.

She said rapid treatment can be “life-changing,” but there is no equitable access to care.

Blackpool said it could not comment on Mary’s case, but chief executive Maggie Oldham acknowledged waits were too long.

“We know we are not where we need to be, but we continue to work hard alongside our partners to resolve the issues we urgently face.”

The government has made improving waiting times its top priority for the NHS and pledged to return to the 18-week target in England by March 2029. This target has not been met since 2015.

The goal requires that 92% of patients be seen within 18 weeks. A provisional national target of 65% has been set for March 2026.

When the government published its plan last January, 59.2% of patients were waiting less than 18 weeks; this figure has now improved to 61.8%. The size of the waiting list also fell to 7.31 million – the lowest level since February 2023.

But at a local level there are big differences in performance, despite dedicated funding being set aside to help NHS trusts – which have been given their own improvement targets.

The BBC was able to compare current performance with the situation 12 months ago, except for two hospital trusts – data was not available for Sheffield and Barking, Havering and Redbridge hospital trusts.

Although published in January, the data is a few months late and therefore marks the situation at the end of November in 2024 and 2025.

East Cheshire saw the biggest drop, from 61.2% of patients waiting less than 18 weeks to 51.2%.

Barnsley saw a fall of nine percentage points, while Whittington Health and Epsom and St Helier NHS trusts saw falls of around five percentage points.

NHS trusts said a variety of factors were at play. Epsom and St Helier cited the introduction of a new electronic patient records system which disrupted services, while Barnsley said understaffing and increased cancer referrals, which had to be prioritized before planned treatments, had caused problems.

The resident doctors’ strike was also singled out: the number of doctors who walked out during industrial action varied from place to place.

Barnsley, Epsom and St Helier both said they expected performances to start to improve.

Of the 98 countries that saw progress over the past year, 17 improved by less than 1 percentage point.

But some had seen great progress. Five NHS trusts saw improvements of between nine and 10 percentage points and Shrewsbury and Telford, which were among the worst performers a year ago, by 17.

The 18-week commitment only applies to England, but targets for hospital treatment are being consistently missed in other parts of the UK.

Rory Deighton, of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS trusts, said: “The NHS is not a homogeneous body but is made up of hundreds of separate organisations, each with their own financial and operational challenges.

“This means that it will be more difficult to address delays in care in some parts of the country than in others, particularly if there are entrenched challenges, such as high levels of local deprivation.”

Chris McCann, deputy chief executive of patient watchdog Healthwatch England, said the analysis showed there were “marked differences” for patients depending on where they live.

“Those responsible for monitoring NHS trusts need to pay particular attention to organizations that are not only performing poorly, but are actually deteriorating,” he added.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said the government had put the NHS on the “path to recovery” but there was still more to do.

She said investment was being made in services such as new surgical centers and evening and weekend exams which would help.

And she said each hospital would be held accountable for its performance.