"This is a huge moment for the NHS."
- Sir Jim Mackey - NHS chief executive officer
New data from the NHS has found that its waiting list dropped to 7.11 million in March of this year, its lowest level since 2021 and a reduction of over half a million (515,000) since July 2024.
The number of patients waiting 18 weeks also fell by over 312,000 last year, standing at 65.3% of patients in March 2026. This is the largest year-on-year decrease in sixteen years.
Furthermore, 18.6 million people began treatment or completed care within the last twelve months, which is 506,000 more people than last year.
Meanwhile, the number of people waiting over a year has dropped by almost half (48%) in the last twelve months.
This comes as the NHS carried out a record 29.9 million diagnostic procedures, delivering more checks, tests and scans than ever before in its 77-year history.
At the same time, the past year has also seen the NHS reporting record demand in A&E, as well as an unprecedented amount of ambulance callouts and GP appointments. Analysis by the NHS also found that an estimated 171,776 appointments and procedures were lost due to strikes within the same time period.
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"This is a huge moment for the NHS," Sir Jim Mackey, NHS chief executive officer, said. "Hitting our targets for the first time in years hasn’t happened by accident; it’s been down to an absolutely enormous effort from NHS staff up and down the country.
"Today’s achievement goes beyond a set of remarkable statistics; it shows that we’re making real inroads on the things that matter to our patients and communities.
"That our staff have been able to achieve this in a year that’s seen the busiest NHS winter on record, that’s been interrupted through industrial action, and that’s since the biggest shake-up of the NHS in its history, makes today’s achievement all the more extraordinary."
Wes Streeting, health and social care secretary, commented: "Our plan for the NHS is working. This is the biggest cut in waiting lists in a single month in seventeen years. It means we are right on track to deliver the fastest reduction in waiting times in the history of the NHS.
"That is thanks to the government’s investment, modernisation, and the remarkable efforts of staff right across the country.
"Lots done, lots more to do."
