Overview

• 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.