NHS performance and satisfaction

Fact checks about the reported quality of the NHS, waiting lists and quality of care

10 October 2024

NHS waiting lists: what you need to know

Our regularly updated guide to NHS waiting lists and waiting times.

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15 April 2024

BBC Breakfast gets the increase in people waiting for NHS treatment wrong

Figures quoted by presenter Naga Munchetty last week refer to the number of cases, not people.

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12 April 2024

Do we know which nation is happiest with the NHS?

Claims on NHS satisfaction from both the Conservatives and Labour weren’t quite as simple as they seemed.

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6 March 2024

More confusion over how many people are waiting for NHS treatment

Claims that 7.6 million people are waiting for treatment have resurfaced, but that's the number of courses of treatment people in England are waiting for, with some people waiting for more than one.

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31 January 2024

Rishi Sunak wrong to say 18-week waits have fallen since pledge

The Prime Minister may have meant to say in a Telegraph article that waits of 18 months have fallen, which they have.

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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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10 November 2023

English maternity services rated worse on safety specifically than overall

The Mirror and BBC Radio reported a figure on official maternity ratings without clarifying that it referred to safety specifically.

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9 November 2023

Wes Streeting wrong to say a million more patients waiting than a year ago

The latest official data shows that about half a million more people are waiting for planned treatment in England. Labour used a less reliable figure for its comparison.

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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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18 October 2023

Waiting lists can’t be compared through the whole history of the NHS

Last week Sir Keir Starmer claimed that Labour achieved the shortest waiting lists “in history”, while Wes Streeting said it had delivered the shortest waiting times.

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