Hospital waiting lists still too long

Patients think they are still waiting too long for hospital treatment despite recent improvements, a survey suggests. A survey of 3,000 people by the National Centre for Social Research found the majority of people believe NHS waiting times are still too long. 81% want shorter waits for elective operations.

 

The NHS waiting list for non-emergency operations stands at 792,000, 500,000 below its peak. The government claims that no one now waits more than 6 months for an operation, and by 2008 the aim is to reduce this to 18 weeks.

 

Public expectations about what a "reasonable" wait should be, is falling. For example, when it comes to "mild back pain" people think it reasonable to wait an average of four weeks for an outpatient appointment, but the average wait for an outpatient appointment in England is nearly seven weeks. The public's expectations of NHS waiting lists are higher than the government's targets, especially in outpatient appointment waiting. There is a gulf between what the government says is happening and the reality on the ground.