A&E Waiting Times Surge Amid NHS Pressures, Despite Slight Drop in Overall Waiting List

The NHS faces its busiest January on record, with A&E waits and ambulance service pressures increasing, even as the total waiting list for treatments slightly decreases.

A&E departments in England saw a near 25% increase in patients waiting over 12 hours for admission in January, marking one of the highest figures on record.
The overall NHS waiting list for treatments fell slightly to 7.60 million at the end of December, down from 7.61 million the previous month.
Ambulance services experienced their busiest January ever, with a significant rise in emergency admissions and category one callouts.
The number of patients waiting more than 18 months for routine hospital treatment has nearly doubled in six months, despite government efforts to reduce long waits.
NHS England attributes the increased pressures to winter challenges and strikes, highlighting the hard work of staff in improving ambulance response times and managing the waiting list.