The English NHS broke new records again in March, with the number of patients on the waiting list over 18, 26, 39 and 52 weeks all hitting new record lows, and with all three 18-week targets met.
Although the pace of improvement for the very longest-waiters has slowed, the number of over-18-week waiters is down a massive 100,000 year-on-year to just 160,052.
One-year-waiters fell to 5,141 (from 5,696 the previous month, and 14,355 a year before), and remain concentrated in London where 2,106 patients are still waiting over a year after referral (and that omits Imperial who are still on a reporting holiday).
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England-wide picture
The NHS continues to show remarkable consistency in both the number of patients being admitted, and the size of the waiting list.
Admissions in England
Waiting list size in England
Records were broken for all measures of long-waiters still on the waiting list, with the number of over-18-week waiters falling by one-third since last July.
Long-waiters still waiting
The new and much better “92% of incomplete pathways within 18 weeks” target was activated on the 1st April, and the NHS has risen to the occasion with an early, convincing and sustained achievement of the new target.
92% incomplete pathways in England
All specialties improved, although neurosurgery is still the most-pressured specialty.
92% incomplete pathways by specialty
The new target must be met in every NHS organisation, in every specialty, and that is going to take a little longer. March saw the highest ever proportion of Trust-specialties achieving the new target, beating by a percentage point the previous record set at the time of the last General Election.
Trust-specialties with 92% of waiting list below 18 weeks
Trust top twenty
The twenty Trusts with the greatest waiting times pressures (omitting Imperial who did not submit data) are:
| Trust | 92% of waiting list is within | Position in March | Change | Position in February | Over-one-year waiters on list |
| The Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS FT | 35.8 weeks | # 1 | up 1 | from # 2 | 49 |
| Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust | 32.4 weeks | # 2 | down 1 | from # 1 | 43 |
| Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust | 25.0 weeks | # 3 | up 2 | from # 5 | 192 |
| James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 24.9 weeks | # 4 | up 26 | from # 30 | 0 |
| North Bristol NHS Trust | 24.8 weeks | # 5 | up 11 | from # 16 | 191 |
| St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust | 24.7 weeks | # 6 | up 2 | from # 8 | 298 |
| Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust | 24.6 weeks | # 7 | down 4 | from # 3 | 0 |
| Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust | 24.4 weeks | # 8 | up 5 | from # 13 | 15 |
| Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust | 23.7 weeks | # 9 | down 5 | from # 4 | 413 |
| Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust | 22.6 weeks | # 10 | down 3 | from # 7 | 75 |
| Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust | 22.6 weeks | # 11 | up 1 | from # 12 | 3 |
| University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 22.5 weeks | # 12 | up 9 | from # 21 | 284 |
| Croydon Health Services NHS Trust | 22.5 weeks | # 13 | down 7 | from # 6 | 2 |
| Barts and The London NHS Trust | 22.3 weeks | # 14 | up 4 | from # 18 | 154 |
| King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 21.2 weeks | # 15 | down 4 | from # 11 | 205 |
| Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 20.8 weeks | # 16 | up 9 | from # 25 | 8 |
| Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 20.8 weeks | # 17 | down 3 | from # 14 | 0 |
| North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust | 20.7 weeks | # 18 | up 32 | from # 50 | 107 |
| Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust | 20.5 weeks | # 19 | down 4 | from # 15 | 0 |
| University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust | 20.3 weeks | # 20 | up 4 | from # 24 | 104 |
Congratulations to Bolton NHS Foundation Trust for dropping off the table from 9th to 69th position, with a reduction in 92nd centile incomplete pathways waits from 23.7 to 17.0 weeks; and to Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust who fell from 10th to 48th place with a reduction from 23.0 to 17.8 weeks.
The next 18-weeks statistics release from the Department of Health is expected at 9:30am on Thursday 21 June 2012.
