NHS patients booted off waiting lists in ploy to hit Labour targets | UK | News
NHS waiting lists fell by nearly 40,000 in one month in January (Image: Alamy Stock Photo)
NHS trusts are taking patients off waiting lists in a cynical attempt to meet Labour’s ambitious targets, according to reports. Health Secretary Wes Streeting claimed the total backlog falling by around 40,000 in a single month was a sign that things were “finally starting to move in the right direction” for the embattled service. But the number of pending appointments fell to 7.25 million in January, as more than a quarter of a million patients were removed from the waiting list because they either went private, died from lack of treatment or were dismissed for not responding to text messages.
This figure represents an increase of approximately 15% in the number of people removed from the waiting list compared to December; hospitals paid £33 for each patient removed from the backlog in this way. Sarah Scobie, deputy director of research at the Nuffield Trust think tank, said: Telegram: “Not all the sporadic improvements we are seeing are down to the NHS providing more care.”
Wes Streeting hails waiting list reductions as a ‘step in the right direction’ (Image: PA)
He added: “There was a further increase in ‘unreported removals’ from the waiting list in January, which includes recovering data as much as possible by removing patients who no longer need to be there.”
“This is a legitimate process, but the NHS and government need to be open publicly about whether they will play a major role in reducing the overall size of the list, rather than pinning all success on more treatments being delivered.”
As well as reducing waiting times after coming to power in July 2024, Labor has pledged to provide a further 40,000 appointments each week and ensure 92% of patients are treated within 18 weeks by the end of the current parliamentary term.
The number of people on NHS waiting lists fell for the third month in a row in January, down from 7.29 million in December, reaching the lowest level since February 2023, when the number of appointments waiting was 7.22 million.
This figure reached a record high in September 2023, when a backlog of 7.77 million treatments was recorded.
It comes after Healthwatch England said there had been a “significant increase” in the number of people paying for private healthcare in the past two years.
A health and social care advocate has warned of a “two-tier” healthcare system where those who can afford it will no longer have to wait for treatment.
But NHS England said it was “completely misleading” to suggest that patients being removed from lists was the reason why backlogs had decreased in recent years.
A spokesman said: “Waiting lists have fallen because the NHS is providing record numbers of appointments, tests and scans in 2025. This has reduced waiting lists to a three-year low and year-round waits to the lowest in almost six years.
“The number of patients removed from the waiting list has remained stable over the past three years and is now significantly lower than before the pandemic, with total removals falling from 17 per cent in 2019 to 14 per cent last year.
“Whether a patient is removed due to starting a particular treatment or for other reasons, they still receive the care they need, such as being given the all-clear after a scan, receiving specialist clinical advice or ongoing medical monitoring of their condition.”
