The NHS waiting list in England has recorded its most significant single-month reduction in 15 years, outside of the Covid-19 pandemic, marking a major milestone for the Labour government. Newly released data shows a dramatic shift from years of escalating backlogs under Conservative rule.
Historic Drop in Treatment Backlog
Official monthly statistics reveal that the waiting list for operations and appointments fell by 86,517 in November 2025. This brought the total backlog down to 7.31 million by the end of that month. Since Labour took office in July 2024, the overall list has been cut by more than 312,000.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting declared this an historic NHS turnaround, stating the government is turning promises into tangible change. He attributed the progress to record investment, modernisation, and the hard work of NHS staff.
"For too long, patients were promised change in the NHS but saw little of it," said Mr Streeting. "November saw the second biggest monthly drop in waiting lists in 15 years. That means faster care, less anxiety for families and people back on their feet and back to work."
The government's strategy has included expanding evening and weekend appointments, setting up specialist surgical hubs, and deploying AI notetaking tools to save clinicians' time. The decline interrupts a relentless upward trend that saw the waiting list pass three million in 2014, four million in 2017, five million in 2021, and seven million in 2022.
Persistent A&E Crisis and 'Corridor Care'
Despite the improvement in planned care, severe pressures continue to grip emergency services. The data exposes a deepening crisis in Accident and Emergency departments, with so-called "corridor care" reaching record levels.
In December 2025, 50,775 patients waited more than 12 hours in A&E from a decision to admit them to actually being admitted, a slight increase from November. For the entire year of 2025, there were 554,018 over 12-hour trolley waits, the highest number since current records began.
The Royal College of Nursing warned that the corridor care crisis on emergency wards is as bad as ever. Dr Vicky Price, President of the Society for Acute Medicine, demanded urgent action, highlighting deadly consequences.
"For every 72 patients waiting eight to twelve hours for admission, one excess death occurs," Dr Price stated. "These figures describe a system stretched beyond safe limits... the predictable result of years of failure to invest."
A Long Road to Recovery
Health think tanks and campaign groups have welcomed the waiting list reduction but cautioned that the NHS remains in a precarious state due to long-term underinvestment. Tim Gardner of the Health Foundation described the A&E figures as a "grim milestone".
Performance against the four-hour A&E target also declined, with only 73.8% of patients seen within four hours in December, down from 74.2% in November. The government and NHS England aim to reach 78% by March 2026.
While acknowledging the progress, Wes Streeting admitted "winter pressures remain high and there’s far more to do." The government faces continued calls from unions to accelerate investment and staffing solutions to fully restore the health service after what critics describe as a decade of decline.
