More than a million Londoners on an NHS waiting list for treatment

More than one million Londoners are now on an NHS waiting list for treatment, the Standard can reveal, amid fears the health service is “bursting at the seams” as winter begins.

A total of 1,009,995 people were awaiting routine treatment in the capital at the end of October, according to the latest NHS figures.

It is a rise of over 11,800 on the previous month and the second highest regional total behind the Midlands. There were 7.2 million people waiting to start treatment across England, the data showed.

The figures illustrate the scale of the pressure on the NHS that has faced strike action by health workers this week.

Medical experts have also warned that Britain faces a particularly difficult flu season, while the increase in Strep A infections among young children has heaped further pressure on the health service.

More than 30,000 people were waiting longer than 52 weeks for treatment, the figures showed, while 2,025 were waiting longer than 78 weeks. However, the figures did show improvement in some areas with nearly two-thirds of patients (64.6 per cent) seen within 18 weeks, a rise of 0.8 per cent on the month before.

Separate data shows that nearly three in ten ambulances (29 per cent) waited over 30 minutes to hand ill patients over to A&E in London hospitals in the week up to December 11. The target is for handovers to be completed within 15 minutes. Ambulance chiefs have warned that handover delays are leading to patients dying.

Hospitals are struggling to discharge patients and free up capacity in A&E as many beds are occupied by patients in need of adult social care who have nowhere else to go.

Industrial action by nurses and paramedics is likely to pile further pressure on hospitals and curtail efforts to tackle the backlog in treatment. Nurses staged their second strike at four hospitals in the capital on Tuesday, while ambulance workers from the Unison union walked out yesterday (Wed).

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay admitted that the coming months would be “challenging” but that he is “determined to tackle waiting times and improve access for patients”.

Danielle Jefferies, an analyst at The King’s Fund, said the NHS was “bursting at the seams” and “struggling to meet sharply rising demand while keeping patients safe”.

“It is easy to become numb to dire NHS performance figures, but the health service really is facing the toughest pressures since modern records began. On top of industrial action she said “more than 50,000 NHS staff are off due to illness, cold weather is biting, and Covid-19, Strep A and other winter viruses will likely increase demand for services.

“All combined, this puts immense strain on staff in health and care services who are having to go above and beyond to support patients.”