Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 10
55th Report - Reducing NHS waiting times for elective care
Published 19 Nov 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Reducing NHS waiting times for elective care All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We received written evidence that long waiting times can put patients at risk. Evidence from Dr Rob Findlay noted that if it is not known what is wrong with undiagnosed patients then some of them will unexpectedly turn out to have a clinically urgent condition such as cancer.17 The National Institute 12 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.2 and 1.7-1.8 13 NHS England, Consultant-led Referral to Waiting Times Data 2024–25: Monthly Referral to Treatment waiting times for incomplete pathways, March 2025. 14 C&AG’s Report, para 1.16 15 Qq 12-13 16 Qq 79-81 17 Rob Findlay (NWT0003) 8 for Health Research Policy Research Unit also told us that waiting longer for elective care can impact health because patients’ ability to benefit from care will reduce as their health deteriorates and ultimately there is a risk of mortality.18
From: Public Accounts Committee, 55th Report - Reducing NHS waiting times for elective care (HC 820), 19 November 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fifty-fifth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 19 January 2026).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-fifth report from Session 2024-26
Published 19 January 2026.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the Committee's recommendations, and for most it says the recommendation is already implemented, with target dates for the rest.
- On diagnostic waits, it says the NHS Medium Term Planning Framework requires all systems to achieve the 1% standard for six week waits, with a plan for reaching it "by March 2029".
- On outpatients, it says it is "essential to transform outpatient care" to reach 92% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks by March 2029; further details "will be published in due course".
- On digital and data, it sets target dates: January 2026 for a single Planned Care Capital Assurance Board, and April 2026 for programmes to tackle digital maturity gaps, while acknowledging "the system is not where it needs to be".
- On unfunded announcements, it says it "will aim to ensure" announcements come with a delivery and affordability plan "wherever possible and appropriate", and that it will publish an impact assessment for the primary legislation on NHS England's integration into DHSC.