NHS wait lists fell for the second month in a row in November but experts say patient care is still unacceptable.
The latest figures show 6.39million people were waiting for 7.61m procedures, down from 6.44m waiting for 7.71m in October.
PANHS waiting lists have fallen for a second month[/caption]
It is a boost for health chiefs and a glimmer of hope for Rishi Sunak’s pledge to cut the backlog by March, though it remains higher than when he set the goal.
But hospitals are still too slow to see people in A&E and treat cancer patients.
Sarah Woolnough, of the King’s Fund think-tank, said: “On some measures the situation is better than this time last year, but patients are still not receiving an acceptable level of service.
“The NHS is still not meeting the majority of its most important performance targets.”
Four in 10 patients wait longer than four hours to be seen in casualty and 148,282 waited four to 12 hours for a bed on a ward in December – the highest for a year.
Category 2 ambulance calls, which include heart attacks and strokes, took an average of 46 minutes to arrive – more than double the 18-minute target.
The British Heart Foundation called the delays “dangerous”.
And all three cancer diagnosis and treatment time targets were missed in November.
Kate Seymour of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “There are still thousands of people in England facing agonising delays for cancer diagnosis and treatment.”
The NHS now faces the peak of the flu season and the after-effects of two doctors’ strikes, which saw over 200,000 appointments cancelled.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS medical director, said: “We have experienced the toughest possible start to 2024 with the longest set of strikes in our history, but we remain focused on doing all we can to make progress on the Covid backlog.”
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins added: “November was the first month without industrial action for over a year and we reduced the total waiting list by more than 95,000.
“This shows the progress our fantastic NHS staff can make towards bringing waiting lists down when they don’t have to contend with industrial action.
“We want to put an end to damaging strikes once and for all.”