Summary of NHS demand, performance, backlogs, and capacity of services in England. It covers A&E waiting times, hospital waiting lists, cancer waiting times, ambulance response times, staffing levels including doctors and nurses, vacancies, and more.
Before 2020, the NHS in England experienced increasing demand and declining performance on its main waiting time measures.
Many of these pressures have increased following the covid-19 pandemic.
How long is the the waiting list for hospital treatment?
The waiting list for hospital treatment rose to a record of 7.7 million in September 2023, but has since fallen to around 7.1 million in July 2026. The 18-week treatment target has not been met since 2016.
Source: NHS England, Consultant-Led Referral to Treatment Waiting Times
How long are waiting times in A&E?
The proportion of patients spending more than 4 hours in hospital A&E grew substantially between 2015 and 2020. A new record high of 50.4% was reached in December 2022. In August 2026, 38.9% of patients waited over 4 hours in hospital A&E.
The number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission after a decision to admit has increased substantially since the middle of 2021.
Source: NHS England, Accident and Emergency Attendances and Emergency Admissions
How long are waiting times for cancer treatment?
The 62-day waiting time standard for cancer has not been met in recent years. Targets have recently changed – see section 3 of the full PDF brieļ¬ng for details. Previously, the standard measured only waits after GP referral, but now other routes are included, covering around 43% more patients. The 85% target remains the same. In July 2026, on the new standard, 71.2% of patients were treated within 62 days of referral.
Source: NHS England, Cancer Waiting Times
How have NHS staff numbers changed over time?
NHS staff numbers have increased, with doctor numbers up 23% and nurses up 20% over the five years to July 2026. The NHS vacancy rate was 6.7% in June 2026, down from 7.1% in June 2025.
These workforce figures do not adjust for changes in demand or activity.
Source: NHS Digital, NHS Workforce Statistics
How long are waiting times for ambulances?
Ambulance response times have risen, with the average response to a Category 2 call (for e.g. suspected heart attacks and strokes) at over 1 hour 30 minutes in December 2022 compared with a target of 18 minutes. Performance has subsequently improved but remains outside the target.
Source: NHS England, Ambulance Quality Indicators
The full PDF briefing paper examines trends in the following areas:
- Accident & Emergency attendance and performance
- Ambulance demand and response times
- Waiting times and waiting lists for routine treatment
- Waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment
- Diagnostic waiting times and activity
- GP appointments
- Workforce numbers for doctors, nurses and other staff
- Bed availability and occupancy
For information on NHS funding and mental health services, please see our separate briefings:
Health is a devolved policy area and these statistics relate to the NHS in England only. Links to statistics for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can be found below.
View the original briefing, with charts and downloads, on the House of Commons Library website ā
Source: House of Commons Library, by Alex Adcock. Ā© House of Commons. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0. Republished in full; charts and images are on the original page.
Official source
House of Commons Library
