Nurses work on patients in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) in St George’s Hospital in Tooting (Stock image)
(Picture: PA)Nearly a million Londoners are currently on an NHS waiting list, the Standard can reveal.
A total of 996,554 people in the capital were waiting for routine hospital treatment at the end of August, according to the latest NHS England figures.
It is a rise of nearly 20,000 on the previous month and comprises around 14 per cent of England’s total waiting list. Only the Midlands had a higher backlog of patients, with 1,336,553 people waiting to start treatment.
The figures lay bare the scale of the challenge faced by health bosses in London ahead of the winter, with the threat of strike action by nurses and doctors looming as well as a rise in flu and Covid cases.
A total of 29,069 people in London were waiting at least 52 weeks or more to start treatment, the equivalent of around 3 per cent of the waiting list and a rise of nearly 500 on July. But nearly two-thirds (65.2 per cent) were seen within 18 weeks, the second highest figure of any region in England after the North East (68.7 per cent).
The average waiting time for treatment was 12.4 weeks, a slight rise on the figure of 12 weeks the month before but still the second lowest wait time in the country behind the North East (11.1 weeks).
The data also shows that the NHS has made progress on 18-month waits, which fell by more than a quarter since the health service launched its elective recovery plan in February.
NHS England and the Government have set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than a year by March 2025.
Meanwhile, a total of 5,483 people waited more than 12 hours in A&E in London’s hospitals in September from a decision to admit them to being admitted – a rise of 12 per cent on the previous month.
The number waiting at least four hours for a bed in the capital stood at 20,985, a rise of around 3 per cent from August.
NHS England has said that delays discharging patients into the community and social care is impacting how many free beds are available.
Dr Sarah Clarke, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said that staffing shortages were “the biggest barrier” to cutting waiting lists.
“The new secretary of state has promised a long-term workforce plan – this needs to come by the end of 2022 and include how many staff will be needed to keep pace with demand now and in future,” she added.
NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: "Despite huge pressures on the NHS this summer, the incredible work of colleagues across the country meant that in August we delivered more potentially life-saving cancer checks than ever before and cut 18-month waits by 60% over the last year.
“This was despite continued pressure from Covid patients in hospital, which has now risen to more than double the numbers seen in August, and more of the most serious ambulance callouts than before the pandemic.”
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “It is totally unacceptable for millions of people to be left waiting months or even years for treatment, often for painful and debilitating conditions.”
