Hospital waiting lists up again

Numbers waiting for an operation back up

The number of people waiting for hospital operations has risen, just a month after the government achieved its waiting list target.

At the end of April 1,054,000 patients were waiting for NHS treatment in England - 16,600 higher than the figure for March.

There will be variations in the waiting list from month to month as demand on the health service fluctuates

Health Minister John Denham

The number of people waiting longer than a year also went up by 2,500 from March.

However, Health Minister John Denham welcomed the fact that 104,000 fewer people were on the waiting list than in March three years ago.

He said: "Last month we announced that, for the first time, the number of patients waiting for an operation had fallen by more than 100,000 since March 1997.

"As we have consistently said, there will be variations in the waiting list from month to month as demand on the health service fluctuates.

"The progress we have made is due to the combination of the dedication of staff in the NHS coupled with rising investment and reformed systems.

"It is only through further reform throughout the health service that we will keep waiting lists down at these lower levels and continue the war on waiting times."

Waiting

The total number of patients waiting fell by 38,900 (3.6%) between April 1999 and April 2000.

But the number of English residents waiting longer than a year rose by 2,600 (5.4%) from April 1999.

Shadow Health Secretary Liam Fox condemned the government's use of waiting lists to gauge success.

He said: "This is the wrong form of measurement. What matters is whether people are receiving treatment when they need it, not according to an arbitrary system which reflects the Government's interests.

"Labour must drop its obsession with Tony Blair's waiting list plan and instead introduce a system like the Conservative Party's Patient's Guarantee, which ensures that patients are treated according to clinical need."