NHS bureaucracy and efficiency

Fact checks about efficiency and inefficiency in the NHS and the outcomes of the Naylor review

20 May 2024

There were treatment waits longer than 18 weeks in 2010

The number of cases waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS England treatment has soared in the last 14 years, but it wasn’t zero when the Conservatives took office.

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28 November 2023

Widespread confusion over number of ‘people’ on NHS waiting lists

The latest figures show there are 7.8 million cases waiting for planned treatment in England—but only 6.5 million people, because some are waiting for more than one thing.

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7 November 2023

Are patients in Wales twice as likely to be on an NHS waiting list as those in England?

The health secretary has not explained what his claim was based on, but the best comparable data we can find suggests those in Wales are around 60% more likely to be on a waiting list.

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8 September 2023

How many people died while on waiting lists?

Apparently contradictory research from Labour and the Times suggests that either 121,000 or 340,000 people died while waiting for treatment in England last year.

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1 September 2023

A patient did not wait in A&E for 36 days

FOI information obtained by Labour contained errors, which made it appear that a patient had waited continuously in A&E when in fact they left the hospital and returned the following month.

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14 June 2023

The overall NHS waiting list continues to rise

Rishi Sunak says the government’s “cutting waiting lists”. That’s true in the case of some specific NHS waiting lists, but not for the main list overall.

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14 December 2022

Labour’s analysis on five million ‘denied’ GP appointments fact checked

This widely reported figure is an estimate, based on several assumptions that may not be right.

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9 May 2022

NHS dentists are still operating in Somerset

A headline suggesting otherwise is not accurate. There is a reported shortage of appointments for new NHS patients, however.

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20 October 2021

Two doctors with same name cause Times letter confusion

A social media post incorrectly claims that a letter written to The Times was from a doctor who died in 2016.

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13 October 2021

Daily Mail report on GPs seeing fewer patients on Fridays needs more context

There are some important caveats to figures showing GP appointments drop off later in the week.

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