NHS waiting list in England hits record 5.45 million

As per a recent revelation, a record number of people, that is, more than 5.45 million people, are waiting for NHS hospital treatment in England.

The figures for the month of June show a mixed picture. There has been a rise in those waiting more than two years.

Also, many have joined the waiting list in recent weeks, as more people are referred for treatment.

As per NHS England's Prof Stephen Powis, the summer had seen some of the highest numbers ever coming forward for care.

He said the health service had made "effective use" of the additional resources it had been given to address the COVID-19 backlog.

The data published also shows that the number waiting to start treatment is the highest it has been since records began in August 2007. Also, approximately, 5.45 million are waiting for procedures, up from 5.3 million in May.

Ambulances across England answered more than a million calls in July. Also, the waiting times were the longest since a new way of logging calls was introduced in 2017.

Chris Hopson of NHS Providers told the BBC the NHS was "going at full pelt" to try to get through the backlog.

He was quoted by the BBC as saying, "They're having to cope with the fact that we're 8,000 beds short compared to the normal number of beds we have because of infection control, and we've got large numbers of staff self-isolating.

"We're also in the peak leave period and we've got very large numbers of people coming in for urgent and emergency care - and we've still got 5,000 Covid patients in hospital beds."