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By Heather Blackmore | Last updated 25/03/2025
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NHS data shows that 7.6 million people are now on the waiting list for routine treatment – the highest number ever recorded. The figure has increased every month since May 2020, when it was 3.83 million people. It means the number of people having to wait longer than 52 weeks to start treatment is around 35 times higher than those waiting a year earlier.
Former health secretary Sajid Javid told the Sunday Telegraph he was "shocked" when officials warned him that the backlog could reach 13 million patients.
The pressures on the NHS due to the pandemic are very severe, with leading charity The British Heart Foundation finding that nearly half of heart patients found it harder to get medical treatment during the lockdown. Heart and circulatory diseases are a major cause of death in the UK, with more than 160,000 deaths each year.
Even with huge efforts, the reality is that longer waiting times for treatment are likely to be a feature of the NHS for several years at least.