Reducing NHS waiting times for elective care

The NHS’ statutory waiting standards for planned non-emergency, or elective, care are that 92% of patients should begin treatment within 18 weeks. Patients on 59% of pathways, or 4.4m people, were waiting less than 18 weeks at the end of 2024. In 2022 NHS England (NHSE) launched three transformation programmes aiming to reduce waiting times … Show more

The NHS’ statutory waiting standards for planned non-emergency, or elective, care are that 92% of patients should begin treatment within 18 weeks. Patients on 59% of pathways, or 4.4m people, were waiting less than 18 weeks at the end of 2024. In 2022 NHS England (NHSE) launched three transformation programmes aiming to reduce waiting times for elective care. These will change how care is provided for surgery; for diagnostics; and for outpatients. Additional capital funding of £5.9bn was allocated for these programmes from 2022-23 to 2024-25. The PAC’s 2023 report on NHS backlogs and waiting times found that the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) oversaw years of decline in the NHS’s cancer and elective care waiting time performance and, even before the pandemic, did not increase capacity sufficiently to meet growing demand. Its 2025 report on the NHS’ financial sustainability warned of a lack of fresh thinking and decisive action within NHS England and DHSC paired with overly optimistic planning assumptions. The NAO’s 2025 report on NHSE’s management of elective care transformation programmes looked at the plans for recovering waiting times, which aim to achieve the statutory standard by 2029. Based on the report, the PAC will hear from senior officials at NHSE and DHSC on subjects including: Progress on targets to increase elective activity and end long waits for treatment; Progress across the three areas of diagnosis, surgery, and outpatients; and Governance and oversight of the transformation programmes. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues . If you have evidence on these issues please submit it here by 23:59 on Thursday 28 August 2025. Show less