NHS waiting lists at record high despite PM's priority pledge

THE NHS waiting list in England has hit a new record high, with 7.7 million people around one in seven - waiting for treatment, data shows.

New figures from NHS England show a rise for the overall list, plus more people facing long waits of a year or more compared to the previous month.

The waiting list for treatment has been growing for much of the last decade, passing three million in 2014, four million in 2017, five million in 2021 and seven million in 2022.

In February 2020, the last full month before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the waiting list was 4.57 million.

Since then, the list has increased by just over three million, to 7.68 million as of July this year - the latest monthly figures just released by NHS England.

This is up from 7.57 million in June and the highest number since records began in August 2007.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who visited North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple yesterday, has made cutting waiting lists one of his priorities for 2023, pledging in January that "lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly"!