The Prime Minister has welcomed new figures published by NHS England which reveal that between July and November last year, the NHS delivered almost 2.2 million more elective care appointments compared to the same period the previous year.

The new data confirms the government reached its two million target seven months earlier than promised – with 100,000 more treatments, tests, and scans for patients each week, and more than half a million extra diagnostic tests delivered.

It follows figures published last week which showed the waiting list has been cut by almost 160,000 since the government took office, compared to a rise of almost 33,000 over the same period the previous year.

It means thousands of patients have received vital operations, scans, treatments, and consultations earlier than planned, helping them get back on with their lives and back to work sooner.

The extra two million appointments – delivered in part by extra evening and weekend working – are underpinned by the government’s ambitious wider reform agenda, including our plan to expand opening hours at Community Diagnostic Centres across the country, 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

The government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future starts with tackling waiting lists, and hitting this milestone is a crucial step towards treating 92% of elective care patients within 18 weeks of referral by the end of this Parliament – delivering a core commitment in the Plan for Change.

While there is more to do, today’s milestone also clears the path to bring forward wider NHS reforms through the government’s Elective Reform Plan – announced by the Prime Minister last month – which will cut waiting times and improve patient experience by getting people seen more quickly, closer to home.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Two million extra NHS appointments and a waiting list on its way down – we’re delivering on our promise to fix the NHS and make sure people get the care they need, when they need it.

“This isn’t just about numbers. It’s about the cancer patients who for too long were left wondering when they’ll finally start getting their life-saving treatment. It’s about the millions of people who’ve put their lives and livelihoods on hold – waiting in pain and uncertainty as they wait for a diagnosis.

“We said we’d turn this around and that’s exactly what we’re doing – this milestone is a shot in the arm for our plan to get the NHS back on its feet and cut waiting times.

“But we’re not complacent and we know the job isn’t done. We’re determined to go further and faster to deliver more appointments, faster treatment, and a National Health Service that the British public deserve as part of our Plan for Change.”

Since entering office, the government has hit the ground running to fix the broken health service we inherited by tackling the waiting lists, and building an NHS fit for the future.

This includes ending NHS strikes so staff are on the front line instead of the picket line this winter, vaccinating more people against flu than this time last year and putting immediate investment into our health system through £1.8 billion to fund extra elective care appointments as part of record £26 billion extra NHS funding secured at the October Budget.

Building on this, the government has announced an extra £40 million funding pot for trusts who make the biggest improvements in cutting waiting lists. The funding will be available for hospitals from next year to spend on capital projects such as new equipment or repairs to their estate which can deliver faster access to treatment and improve conditions for patients.

Further details on the scope and allocation of the funding package will be set out in due course, but examples of the innovations that trusts will be able to benefit from include investment into new tech such as surgical robots and AI scanners to modernise the NHS and help patients get diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible.

The funding could also go towards completing hospital ward maintenance – expediting the transformation of ageing NHS estates and giving patients newer, safer environments in which to receive care.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “We have wasted no time in getting to work to cut NHS waiting times and end the agony of millions of patients suffering uncertainty and pain.

“Because we ended the strikes, invested in the NHS, and rolled out reformed ways of working, we are finally putting the NHS on the road to recovery.

“We promised change, and we’ve delivered, providing the two million extra appointments we pledged in just our first five months – a promise made, and a promise kept. The result is around 160,000 fewer patients on waiting lists today than in July.

“That was just the first step. Through our Plan for Change, we are opening new surgical hubs, Community Diagnostics Centres at evenings and weekends, and using private sector capacity to cut waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks.”

Amanda Pritchard NHS chief executive said: “Thanks to the hard work of staff and embracing the latest innovations in care, we treated hundreds of thousands more patients last year and delivered a record number of tests and checks, with the waiting list falling for the fourth month in a row.

“There is much more to do to slash waiting times for patients, but the Elective Care Reform Plan will allow us to build on this incredible progress as we boost capacity and drive efficiency while also improving the experience of patients.”

The Elective Reform Plan will drive forward action to meet the 18-week target through the necessary reforms to overhaul the system, support staff, cut waste and put patients first – creating millions more appointments in the process. As part of this, the government is creating thousands more appointments through greater access to Community Diagnostic Centres and 17 new or expanded surgical hubs.

The Community Diagnostic Centres will be opened 12 hours a day, seven days a week wherever possible so that people can access a broader range of more appointments closer to home in their neighbourhoods. These will increase the availability of same-day tests and consultations so that patients don’t have to wait for weeks in between different stages of care.

The surgical hubs will be also created within existing hospitals by June and three others expanded, with more expected in coming years supported by the £1.5 billion investment confirmed at the Autumn budget.

These will bring together the necessary expertise, best practice, and tech under one roof to focus on delivering the most common, less complex procedures. The new hubs will be ring-fenced from winter pressures and will cut waiting times for standard surgeries, in turn freeing up beds in acute wards needed for more complex cases.

Other elements of the plan include freeing up around 1 million more appointments every year by removing non-essential follow-ups, publishing a new deal with the independent sector to increase capacity, revolutionising the NHS app to give patients greater choice and control over their treatment and preventing unnecessary referrals by incentivising GPs to work with hospital doctors to get specialist advice.

The government has also launched a nationwide consultation on the 10 Year Health Plan to build an NHS fit for the future and secured an extra £2 billion to upgrade NHS technology and £1 billion to deal with the massive NHS maintenance backlog.

As part of a drive towards prevention, NHS England have also launched its first-ever awareness campaign today to support more women to attend potentially lifesaving breast screening. The campaign, supported by leading charity Breast Cancer Now, launches today with a new advert across TV, on demand and radio to highlight the benefits of screening in detecting cancer at the earliest opportunity.

Last year alone, NHS breast screening services detected cancers in 18,942 women across England, which otherwise may not have been diagnosed or treated until a later stage, and the most comprehensive review to date found around 1,300 deaths are prevented each year by the breast screening programme.

This article is from an official Department of Health and Social Care press release. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-two-million-extra-nhs-appointments-delivered-early-as-trusts-handed-40-million-to-go-further-and-faster

Letters arriving after appointments, not being kept updated about waiting times for treatment and chasing test results. Just some of the major issues being raised about poor NHS administration and patient communications in a new Healthwatch report.

Such problems can not only be frustrating, but they can also risk some patients not receiving the care or diagnosis they need on time, the report Lost in the System: the need for better admin in the NHS found.

Working with The King’s Fund and National Voices, Healthwatch has today published new research about people’s experiences of NHS admin processes.

The report shows that issues with admin are widespread and are worse for some people, including those with long-term health conditions and people who are struggling financially.

It warns that issues such as letters arriving after appointments, not being kept updated about waiting times for treatment and chasing test results can not only be frustrating, but they can also risk some patients not receiving the care or diagnosis they need on time.

Poor admin also affects staff working in the NHS who can bear the brunt of people’s frustration when patients have been given incorrect information, they do not know who to contact while waiting for care, or their test results have gone astray.

Highlights in our poll 

New public polling conducted by Ipsos for the report reveals the scale of poor NHS admin.

While half, 52%, of the public felt the NHS is good at communicating with patients about things like appointments and test results, a quarter, 25%, said it was poor, and those who had actually interacted with health services in the last year reported widespread issues.

Of those who had used the NHS in the last 12 months, either for themselves or someone they care for, nearly two in every three, 64%, said they had experienced at least one issue with NHS admin or poor communication.

The common issues experienced include:

• 32% of patients have had to chase results following test, scans or X-rays
• 32% of patients have not been kept updated on how long they have to wait for treatment or care
• 23% of patients don’t know who to contact while waiting for care
• 20% received an invitation to an appointment after the date of the appointment.

Of those who have experienced at least one admin issue in the previous 12 months, 42% said they are less likely to seek care in the future due to their experience, and 47% reported it made them think the quality of care the NHS provides is poor.

Impacts of poor admin  

Deeper analysis of the findings reveals that carers, patients with long-term health conditions, people from ethnic minority backgrounds and those struggling financially were all significantly more likely to experience issues with NHS admin and communication. The study found that 75% of patients with one or more long-term health condition had experienced an issue with NHS admin in the last year, compared to 57% of those with no long-term health conditions.

Patients and carers told researchers from The King’s Fund, National Voices and Healthwatch how poor admin has led to stress, anxiety and deteriorating mental health.

Many patients described being unable to cancel or reschedule appointments. One person described how they were automatically discharged from a service when they did not attend an appointment they had been unable to cancel. Another patient received a text confirming their appointment for the 99^th January. Researchers also heard from a patient who is deaf and described how they are still called on the phone despite asking to be communicated with via text or email.

Perception of waste in the NHS

As well as making some patients less likely to seek care in the future, the research shows that poor admin drives a perception of NHS waste. Of those who have experienced at least one problem over the last year with NHS Admin, 61% said that it made them think money was being wasted, 56% said their time was being wasted and 55% felt that NHS staff time was being wasted.

Healthwatch Chief Executive Louise Ansari said: “Admin issues within the NHS and their impacts on people have been in the shadows for too long. We’ve heard countless stories of people whose NHS letters arrived after the appointment day or were sent to the wrong address while some had their referrals lost in the system.

“Admin errors are frustrating and can have serious implications for patient safety. If people miss their tests or scans, they will face a longer wait for their care, putting their health at risk.

“Poor admin puts the onus on the patient or their families, who often have to sort out the problems that NHS systems have created, while at the same time struggling with the health condition they need treatment for. This places a particularly heavy burden on disabled people and those who have a sensory impairment.

“Moving to a system that gets admin right and invests in admin staff development would have the potential to transform people’s experience of care, ensure equal access, and stop people getting lost in a system which is in desperate need of an overhaul.”

Julia Cream, a policy fellow at The King’s Fund and co-author of the report said: “The number of people affected by poor admin is stark. Today’s results lay bare the day-to-day dysfunction of an NHS that is too often not meeting people’s needs and highlights the deep inequalities people experience when they are trying to access and engage with health services. Behind these numbers are stories of people who are worried about their health and struggling to get through the NHS’s front door.

“The government is trying to bring down waiting lists and improve access but these efforts will fail if the NHS cannot communicate effectively with people about when their appointment is or who they need to contact.

“Poor admin drives up perceptions of an NHS that wastes money and staff time and puts people off seeking care. Admin matters and it’s time that admin, and the staff that deliver it, are recognised for the value they bring.”

Jacob Lant, Chief Executive of National Voices, said: “Admin plays a crucial role in how patients experience health care, yet our research shows many people find themselves in an admin doom loop, trapped by no-reply emails and unable to access the person or answers they need. This goes beyond inconvenience, often risking people’s quality of care.

“The results of ineffective and inefficient admin are not felt equally across our society, and affect those already experiencing health inequalities more acutely. For people with multiple long-term conditions, the burden of managing admin is multiplied for each interaction with the system.

“NHS administration appears to be everyone’s job, but no one’s responsibility. The Government’s incoming 10 Year Health Plan provides a much-needed opportunity for NHS admin to be prioritised and for a commitment to be made to getting the basics right for everyone.”

How to fix poor admin – our recommendations 

Together with The King’s Fund and National Voices, we are calling on the government and the NHS to:

• improve patient communication and admin, with the health service required to regularly report on patient experience of admin processes
• prioritise admin in the upcoming government ten-year health plan expected later this year.

NHS leaders and policymakers should ensure there is adequate training and development for NHS admin staff and that patients are part of the design, delivery and testing of new admin approaches.

You can read the full findings and recommendations in the joint long read. 

Source: https://www.healthwatch.co.uk/news/2025-02-17/patients-put-seeking-care-due-dysfunctional-nhs-admin-warn-patient-groups-and

A warning notice has been sent to GB Healthcare Group Ltd for failing to meet the regulations in relation to ‘good governance’ at Hebburn Court.*

The CQC inspected the home at The Old Vicarage, Witty Avenue, Hebburn, on October 9, 10 and 24 after receiving reports about poor care. It will closely monitor the home and do a second inspection within six months. 

This is the full report:

Our view of the service

Hebburn Court provides accommodation with nursing and personal care for up to 55 people. 31 people were using the service when we visited, some people were living with dementia. This unannounced assessment was due to whistle blowing concerns about poor care and significant events at the home. We visited the home on 9, 10 and 24 October 2024 and found breaches of the regulations relating to safe care and treatment, person-centred care, safeguarding, safe premises, consent to care, duty of candour and good governance. Ineffective leadership had led to significant shortfalls, placing people at risk of harm, including poor record keeping, ineffective risk management, not reporting and investigating serious allegations of abuse and delays in renewing some DoLS. Actions were outstanding from the last fire risk assessment and the electrical installation safety inspection. As well as fire safety and evacuation concerns. Risks associated with the environment had not been managed. Medicines were not handled safely. Staff did not support people appropriately when they displayed distressed behaviours. The provider had not sought appropriate consent for restrictions on people lacking capacity, such as for bedrails and CCTV use. Care plans were not person-centred, accurate or up to date. Falls, incidents, accidents and allegations of abuse were not effectively analysed. The provider had appointed an interim management team who had developed an action plan and were overseeing improvement. The service has been placed into special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.

People’s experience of this service

Although people and relatives were generally happy with the care and people felt safe, our assessment found significant shortfalls in people’s care. People did not receive care that promoted their safety, wellbeing or dignity. Although some staff were kind and caring and treated people with respect, this was inconsistent. People living with dementia lacked meaningful stimulation and engagement. People did not have opportunities to participate in meaningful activities. People living with dementia did not receive person-centred and dignified care, including suitable footwear, support with oral healthcare or meaningful activities. Some people did not receive the support they needed to eat safely.

* We served a warning notice GB Healthcare Group Ltd on 24 December 2024 for failing to meet the regulations in relation to ‘Good governance’ at Hebburn Court.

Ratings

• Overall – Inadequate

• Safe – Inadequate

• Effective – Requires improvement

• Caring – Requires improvement

• Responsive – Requires improvement

• Well-led – Inadequate

Source: https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-13773098295/reports/AP6883/overall

* UPDATE: The home was reinspected by the CQC in May 2025 and the new overall rating was ‘Requires Improvement’. The report can be seen here: https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-13773098295/reports/AP11625/overall

Patients dying in corridors, lack of equipment and unsafe practices are the findings of a new RCN report documenting the experiences of more than 5,000 NHS nursing staff.

Almost 7 in 10 (66.8%) respondents to an RCN survey said they’re delivering care in over-crowded or unsuitable places – such as corridors, converted cupboards and even car parks – on a daily basis.

Demoralised nursing staff report caring for as many as 40 patients in a single corridor, unable to access oxygen, cardiac monitors, suction and other lifesaving equipment. They report female patients miscarrying in corridors, while others said they cannot provide adequate or timely CPR to patients having heart attacks.

More than 9 in 10 (90.8%) of those surveyed said patient safety is being compromised.

RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “This devastating testimony from frontline nursing staff shows patients are coming to harm every day, forced to endure unsafe treatment in corridors, toilets and even rooms usually reserved for families to visit deceased relatives. Vulnerable people are being stripped of their dignity and nursing staff are being denied access to vital lifesaving equipment. We can now categorically say patients are dying in this situation.”

A nurse working in the South East region said: “We’ve had cardiac arrests in the corridor or in cubicles blocked by patients on trolleys in front of them, delaying lifesaving CPR. Despite these ‘never-events’, we still are obliged to deliver care in the corridor.”

More than a quarter of nursing staff surveyed said they weren’t told the corridor they were providing care in was classed as a “temporary escalation space”, as described by the NHS in England.

This means risk protocols and additional measures may not be in place to ease pressures and protect patients.

Nursing staff also report cancer patients being put in corridors and other inappropriate spaces. In the South West region, a nurse said: “It was a cancer patient whose immunity was very low because of her treatment. She should’ve been in a side room. She was very upset and crying. We put screens around her but she was in the path of the staff room and toilet, so it was constantly busy. That poor lady eventually passed away.”

The RCN report follows a letter sent to the Westminster government and NHS England from an RCN-led coalition, calling on officials to publish how many patients are being cared for in corridors and other inappropriate places.

Nicola added: “The revelations from our wards must now become a moment in time. A moment for bold government action on an NHS which has been neglected for so long. Ministers cannot shirk responsibility and need to recognise that recovering patient care will take new investment, including building a strong nursing workforce.”

The RCN’s full report can be downloaded here.

Chris McCann, deputy chief executive at Healthwatch England said: “These devastating stories shared by nurses in the report by the RCN echo experiences that people tell us about. This includes a 75-year-old who spent 15 hours in an A&E corridor chair, eight hours on a trolley in a storage room and a further two hours in a ward corridor before finally being admitted.

“We applaud nurses for calling out this undignified and unsafe practice. Patients say they’re witnessing stressed and overstretched staff who are valiantly trying to cope with these extreme pressures.

“As a first step, we’re joining with other organisations in calling on the government to commit to transparency on the true extent of corridor care by ensuring figures are published for each hospital on the number of people being held in corridors or other inappropriate spaces.

“We need to know how many patients are affected, why and for how long and the extent to which people are harmed as a result. This would help inform the new emergency care plan being developed by the government.

“The plan must also look at other NHS pressures that impact on hospital care, such as a lack of timely GP appointments, and hospital discharge delays due to problems arranging ongoing social care for people, which stop beds being freed up for new inpatients.”

Source: https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/news/uk-corridor-care-devastating-testimony-shows-patients-are-coming-to-harm-160125

Five of the ten most visited health conditions on the NHS website last year mostly affect children, with three of them seeing significant increases compared to 2023.

Visits to the hand, foot and mouth disease page increased by 46% on the previous year – moving it from 14^th place to the third most viewed page in 2024 (2.8m visits compared with 1.9m in 2023). Symptoms include mouth ulcers and a raised rash of spots on the hands and feet.

Slapped cheek syndrome saw the biggest increase of the top 10 conditions with visits more than tripling. The condition, which can see a rash develop on children’s cheeks, was the fourth most visited page of 2024 – rising by 220% from 830,000 visits in 2023 to 2.6m last year.

Scarlet fever was another newcomer to the top 10 list in 2024, taking tenth place with 1.9m page visits – up 33% from 1.4m in 2023. The infection mostly affects young children and symptoms include a rash which looks like small, raised bumps and starts on the chest and tummy.

There were also 2m visits to advice on rashes in babies and children in 2024 and another 2m to the page on chickenpox.

The advice on Covid-19 and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms remained the first and second most visited health conditions overall, with 3.7m views for COVID-19 and 3.6m for ADHD.

The pages on high cholesterol, chest infections and urinary tract infections also appeared in the top 10 list for 2024.

The NHS is reminding people to use the NHS website for advice on treating winter health conditions, including when to visit a GP or other NHS services, after figures published on Thursday showed that there were an average of 5,408 patients a day in hospital with flu last week, including 256 in critical care – 3.5 times higher than the same week last year (1,548 w/e 7 January 2024).

A number of trusts this week have declared critical incidents, citing exceptional demand caused by the colder weather and respiratory viruses. Covid, RSV and norovirus cases remained high with more than 1,100 patients in hospital with Covid every day last week, as well as 626 patients with norovirus – up almost 50% on the same week last year (424). There was also an average of 72 children in hospital with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) every day, up 47% from last year (49).

Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England, said: “The nhs.uk website is available whenever you need it and these latest statistics show how useful it is for millions of people every year, especially for parents needing to check advice on their children’s health.

“We saw a significant increase in visits to the pages on several childhood illnesses in 2024 – including hand, foot and mouth disease and slapped cheek syndrome – and the website includes helpful guidance on how to treat children at home as well as when to visit a GP or access other services.

“I hope millions of people will continue to use the NHS website throughout 2025 to help them stay as healthy as possible.”

The 10 most viewed health conditions on the NHS website in 2024 were:

1. COVID-19 (3.7m)
2. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (3.6m)
3. Hand, foot and mouth disease (2.8m)
4. Slapped cheek syndrome (2.7m)
5. High cholesterol (2.2m)
6. Urinary tract infection (2.2m)
7. Chest infection (2m)
8. Rashes in babies and children (2m)
9. Chickenpox (2mi)
10. Scarlet fever (1.9m)

The NHS website, which is managed by NHS England, is the UK’s biggest health website with 701m visits throughout 2024 from people seeking information and advice.

It includes over 4,000 pages and provides information about 990 medical conditions. Other health services available on the website include applying for a free UK Global Health Insurance Card for healthcare cover abroad and finding a GP.