The data team at Polimapper has visualised this month’s ‘Consultant-led Referral to Treatment Waiting Times’ data to showcase its potential for informing geographical discussions on healthcare challenges.
The map below shows NHS waiting times statistics by Integrated Care Board in England. Each local area page includes a detailed breakdown of waiting times by service in the ICB.
To view statistics in your area double click on the map or click here to launch the full page version.
Statistical Breakdown
In March, the number of incomplete NHS pathways rose for the first time in seven months, new statistics show.
NHS England has released its monthly waiting times figures for March, revealing that an estimated 6.2 million patients were waiting to start treatment at the end of the month, across a total of 7.4 million open pathways, a month-on-month increase of nearly 20k.
Additionally, the 18 week treatment target continues to be missed. This target sets out that 92% of people waiting for non-urgent treatment should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to first treatment. However, as of March, this rate was 59.8%.
On average, NHS patients were waiting 13.8 weeks to receive treatment, a slight improvement from the previous month.
Mental health services saw the highest percentage of complete pathways within the 18 weeks target, at 80%, whilst Paediatric services saw the highest number of incomplete pathways amongst all other treatment functions, at 43.4k.
On a national level, all Integrated Care Boards have missed the 92% standard, falling in line with previous trends.
In the NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board 70% of pathways were completed within 18 weeks, the highest in the country. Conversely, in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and the NHS Mid and South Essex only 52% of pathways met the target.
The longest waiting times were seen in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin at 17.7 weeks, whilst these were shortest in the Gloucestershire ICB (9.5 weeks). View statistics in your area below.
Geodata context
This morning’s data challenges the Labour government’s plans to reduce waiting times in the NHS.
Professor Frank Smith, vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England): “NHS staff are working tirelessly to get patients seen more quickly. We can’t get away from the fact that the pace of progress remains sluggish. This calls into question whether government targets will be met.”
“Our members frequently tell us they could be doing more surgeries if they had enough operating theatres, or if existing facilities weren’t out of commission due to disrepair. Without better access to operating theatres for surgical teams, the NHS will fail to make the productivity gains needed to meet targets and patients will continue to endure unacceptably long waits.”
“If this government is serious about delivering on its waiting time pledges, it must be realistic and find further capital funding to repair crumbling NHS estates and expand capacity.”
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director at NHS England: “The scale of demand that our frontline NHS teams are managing is enormous – today’s figures show that each month, they are having to not only deal with an historic backlog, but they are also working to keep up with the hundreds of thousands of new patients that need our care.”
“In March, we saw a particularly sharp rise in referrals – yet staff still managed to deliver more for patients with 100,000 more treatments delivered and thousands more getting a timely diagnosis for cancer.”