NHS England waiting list falls with 6.44m on hold for routine treatment

The number of people in England waiting to start routine hospital treatment has fallen slightly, figures show.

An estimated 6.44 million were waiting to start treatment in October, down from 6.5m in September.

In terms of actual appointments - which include individuals who are waiting for more than one treatment - the waiting list has decreased.

An estimated 7.71 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of October, down from a record 7.77 million treatments at the end of September, according to NHS England.

However, the figure is still 3 million higher than it was before the COVID pandemic, and more than triple the 2.55 million in October 2010.

The number of people waiting more than 52 weeks to start routine hospital treatment at the end of October is also down.

A total of 377,618 people in England had been waiting more than 52 weeks to start routine hospital treatment at the end of October, down from 391,122 at the end of September.

However, the number of people who have been waiting more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment is up - to 10,506.

This is an increase of 3% compared to the 10,201 figure recorded in September.

The Government and NHS England set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than 18 months by April this year, excluding exceptionally complex cases or patients who choose to wait longer.

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