Sunak's broken promise: NHS waiting lists won’t fall back to pre-pandemic levels until 2030

6 Feb 2024

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

On current trends, it will take until the end of the decade for NHS waiting lists to fall back to pre-pandemic levels
Rishi Sunak admitted today that he has failed to keep his promise to cut NHS waiting lists
Lib Dems call for the government to reverse planned spending cuts for NHS day-to-day spending

NHS waiting lists won’t fall back to pre-pandemic levels until the end of the decade if current trends continue, new analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

It comes as Rishi Sunak has finally admitted he has failed to deliver his pledge to cut them.

Waiting lists have fallen by just 135,000 from their record 7.7 million peak in August 2023, at an average of just 45,000 a month. It means that they are only on course to fall back to pre-pandemic levels at the very end of the decade in November 2029.

The Prime Minister's pledge to cut them formed one of his "5 priorities" where he promised the British people that his government would cut waiting lists. Sunak has failed to live up to his word.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the government to cancel their planned £1.6 billion real terms cut to NHS day-to-day spending at the upcoming Budget.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said:

“Rishi Sunak’s failure to keep his promise to the British people is having devastating consequences for patients across the country. Many are left languishing in pain, unable to get the treatment they deserve as they are forced to worry if they will be seen in time.

“You cannot trust this Conservative government with our NHS. The Conservative party has shown time and again that fixing the crisis in our health service is not truly their priority and this neglect has left millions waiting in discomfort for far too long.

“What is even more staggering than Rishi Sunak’s failure to cut waiting lists, is that the Conservative party is still planning to cut NHS spending. These absurd and dangerous cuts must be reversed.

“Our NHS and patients will never get the support that they deserve while this Conservative government is in office. The country is crying out for a general election. Rishi Sunak should call one now.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The Liberal Democrat analysis of NHS waiting lists can be found here.

NHS waiting lists fell by 135,843 in Sept 2023, Oct 2023, and Nov 2023 from their Aug 2023 peak of 7,745,784. This means that over the months that waiting lists have been falling from this peak, there has been an average decline of 45,281 a month. If waiting lists continue to fall at that average rate, it will take until November 2029 for them to reach pre-pandemic levels.