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The Government will fall short on it pledge to cut NHS waiting lists if current trends continue, according to new analysis. Placing so much emphasis on the target risks slowing progress on other important issues, such as access to GPs, the Health Foundation warned.

Experts also heard that NHS trusts found themselves between “a rock and a hard place” last winter due to pressure to meet elective targets and manage urgent emergency care performance. In January, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer pledged to slash NHS waiting lists by setting a target for the health service to carry out 92% of routine operations within 18 weeks by the end of Parliament in 2029.

The new report by the Health Foundation said waiting lists are in “slightly better shape” than when the Labour Governmen

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