Research by Medical Negligence Assist has discovered the top 11 NHS Trusts where patients are failed to be seen within the 18 week minimum set, with one keeping people waiting over a year
The NHS Trusts with the longest waiting times for patients have been revealed, with the majority of one kept waiting at least 18 weeks.
As of March this year, an estimated 7.54 million treatments were waiting to be carried out in England, relating to 6.29 million patients. Now, a new investigation by Medical Negligence Assist has revealed only three out of 136 NHS Trusts came close to meeting the referral-to-treatment waiting times target set out in the NHS constitution at 18 weeks.
Milton Keynes Trust has the highest percentage of patients waiting more than four months for treatment after being referred. The report said 64% of its patients – 34,721 people – wait longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment. Nearly all (92%) were kept waiting 57 weeks or less for their treatment.
Second on the list was University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, where 58.6% of its patients were waiting over 18 weeks – with some waiting up to 56 weeks. Third was James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust where 56% of patients were kept waiting longer than 18 weeks as of March 2024.
Siva Anandacina, of The King’s Trust, says: “The hospital waiting list remains stubbornly high at 7.5 million in March, representing 6.3 million people waiting, often in pain or unable to work, for treatment.
“A&E departments also continue to be under extreme strain as we head towards summer, with over 2.2 million attendances in April, and only 74% of people being seen within four hours. It has been nearly a decade since A&E performance targets were reliably met, and there is little prospect of performance substantially improving in the near future.
“It is patients and staff who are bearing the brunt of the deterioration in NHS performance over the past ten years. Successive governments have failed to invest in services to keep people well and outside of hospitals.
“At the same time, NHS buildings and equipment have been allowed to degrade and become dilapidated. The government will need to prioritise both these areas if it wants patients to receive the urgent and emergency care they truly need.”
Only three out 136 NHS Trusts came close to meeting the NHS waiting time target of 18 weeks and all were cancer-focused centres. The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Withington, Manchester had the shortest recorded waiting time for patients who had been referred for treatment with 97.9% seen within 18 weeks. The majority (92%) of patients were treated within 12 weeks of being referred – the shortest waiting time out of all UK NHS Trusts.
Second is The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust in Merseyside where 96.4% of patients were waiting within the NHS target of 18 weeks, with most (92%) seen inside 14 weeks. The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London saw 94.1% of patients who had been referred to treatment, waiting within 18 weeks. Most patients (92%) were treated within 16 weeks.
Head of Medical Negligence at Medical Negligence Assist Nick Banks said: “Whilst claiming against the NHS can seem daunting, such claims are the best way to ensure funding is made available for all of the patient’s short-term and longer-term needs.”
NHS Trusts with longest patient waiting times as of March 31, 2024:
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust63.8%
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust58.6%
James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust56%
The Robert Jones and Agnus Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 54.6%
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust53%
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust52.6%
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust52%
The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust51.4%
North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust51.3%
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust51.1%
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust51.1%