Vital Signs: NHS waiting lists

Briefing · Parliament

MPs and peers dispute whether NHS waiting lists are falling, and what reorganisation and missed letters do to them

1. 01On the headline numbers, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper told the Commons on 9 September that waiting lists were down by 350,000 in two years, and on 20 October that the Government is "delivering lower waiting lists". In the Inheritance Tax debate on 14 October, James Murray said the list was down by more than 250,000 since the Government came to power.
2. 02Opposition members dispute that picture. Damian Hinds (Topical Questions, 20 October) cited a list of more than 7 million, and Dr Caroline Johnson (underperforming trusts debate, 14 October) said it had risen by 222,000 in four months. In the Lords Health Bill debate on 13 October, Lord Lansley said the list had gone from 2.64 million to 7.37 million, and Labour's Lord Sikka said it had risen for the third time in four months and asked why the Bill has no targets for reducing queues.
3. 03In the Health Bill debates, members disagree over whether abolishing NHS England helps or distracts. Lord Scriven and Baroness Manzoor (Lords, 13 October) and Lord Stevens of Birmingham warned of disruption, with Manzoor listing longer waiting lists among the risks. Deirdre Costigan asked in the Commons on 8 September whether the changes would bring lists down, and Yvette Cooper said the legislation is about democratic accountability and a focus on patient care.
4. 04Royal Mail debates on 21 and 26 October linked postal delays to missed appointments and longer queues. Jim Dickson reported that a community diagnostic centre in Dartford saw many patients not receiving letters, and Sorcha Eastwood, Jim Shannon, Kirsty Blackman and Bradley Thomas described constituents missing scans or being removed from lists.
5. 05Mental health waits drew cross-party concern. Dr Danny Chambers (youth suicide debate, 13 October) said children on mental health waiting lists had risen to a million, and Liz Twist (Health Bill, 8 September) argued for national waiting time standards for mental health services, as Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst and Dr Simon Opher also raised young people's waits. In the underperforming trusts debate, Marie Goldman, Helen Morgan and Jim Shannon described long waits and cancer targets being missed, while Jack Abbott said reforms were starting to turn things around.