Waiting times at record low as NHS hits target five months early

Waiting times for hospital treatment in England are at their shortest since the NHS began 60 years ago, ministers said yesterday.

The average wait is eight weeks from GP referral. Nine out of 10 patients are treated within 18 weeks. That compares with waits of two years for treatment which were "common" in the mid-Nineties, said Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary.

But the achievement is not evenly spread across the country, with just over half of trusts failing to meet the 18-week target for inpatient and outpatient access. Some specialties, notably orthopaedics and neurosurgery, also have longer waits.

Mr Johnson said figures for August, published yesterday, show that, nationally, the Government has met its target to have 90 per cent of inpatients and 95 per cent of outpatients treated within 18 weeks of referral, five months ahead of schedule.

The target was set four years ago for completion by December 2008. It was criticised by medical and patient organisations, who said it risked distorting clinical priorities and jeopardising other aspects of care. Instead, it has made the service comparable with those in other European countries where waiting times have traditionally been shorter than in the UK.

"This is an extraordinary achievement for the NHS when the range and complexity of treatments has never been greater. Achieving our18-week commitment nationally five months early is great news for patients," Mr Johnson said. He added: "It has not been met by every NHS trust – however, hitting the national aggregate is a huge achievement and an important milestone."

Five primary care trusts were named yesterday as the worst performers, with less than 80 per cent of their patients treated within 18 weeks. Problems in orthopaedics, one of the busiest specialties with over 45,000 admissions in August, were worst in the South and South-east. Waiting lists were longest there, so meeting the target was harder. In neurosurgery, problems were blamed on an international shortage of spinal surgeons.

Officials said that success in cutting waiting lists was reducing the number of patients going private in some areas, and increasing referrals by GPs in others "because they know something will happen quickly".

Mr Johnson also said that, despite the economic downturn, the Prime Minister had assured him the Department of Health budget would not be affected during the current spending round, which runs to 2011. The NHS has had 5 per cent growth in the current year and could expect the same over the next two years, according to officials. "What we have to do is ensure that every penny is spent wisely," Mr Johnson said.

* Infections with Clostridium difficile in the over-65s fell 18 per cent in April to June from the previous quarter and are down 38 per cent on the same period last year, figures from the Health Protection Agency show. Overall, the figures show a 21 per cent fall on the 2007-08 average.

Waiting times: 20 years of progress

1980s: As director of the NHS Northern region, Sir Liam Donaldson, now the Government's chief medical officer, received a letter from an 83-year-old pensioner who had been waiting 10 years for an NHS cataract operation. In it, he asked if he could bequeath his place in the queue in his will to his 60-year-old nephew who had developed eye problems.

1995: The Conservatives published the Patient's Charter. It contained a guarantee that patients needing hip, knee and cataract operations would be treated within 18 months, excluding the wait for an outpatient appointment and diagnostic tests.

2001-02: The Healthcare Commission, the independent NHS inspectorate, assessed NHS trusts on whether they provided treatment within 18 months of GP referral. Of 166 trusts, 19 failed.

2008: Nine out of 10 patients in England treated within 18 weeks (four months) of GP referral.

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