Overview
- An NHS England evaluation published on January 14 reports FF20 trusts reduced elective backlogs by 4.2% from October 2024 to October 2025, versus a 1.4% fall nationally.
- For working‑age adults in those areas, waiting lists fell more than five times faster than elsewhere, according to the report.
- The government says the overall NHS waiting list has dropped by more than 225,000 since July 2024 despite 28.4 million referrals.
- Operational changes included High Flow Theatre Lists and streamlined “straight to test” pathways, with South Tees creating 4,000 extra slots, Bolton cutting wasted slots by 20%, and East Lancashire lifting nurse productivity by 14% using AI dictation.
- Local outcomes cited include Newcastle Hospitals reducing its backlog by more than 13,000, with lessons now informing wider rollout under the Elective Reform Plan.