All ICBs missed the NHS waiting times target in January 2025, new NHS data shows. This comes amidst news of the Prime Minister scrapping NHS England in an effort to cut waiting times, reduce bureaucracy and return control of NHS management to the government.
The data published yesterday by NHS England reveals that all ICBs across the country missed the ‘18 Week Treatment Target’, which sets out that 92% of people waiting for elective (non-urgent) treatment should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to their first treatment.
In the month of January 2025, a total of 7.28m NHS patients were still waiting to start treatment, a decrease of around 50k from the previous month. Of these, only 59% of patients waited less than 18 weeks, whilst 92% of all patients waited for an average of 42 weeks.
Nearly 200k patients waited more than 52 weeks to start treatment, 14k waited over 65 weeks and 1,900 waited longer than 78 weeks.
The ICB of Greater Manchester has the highest number of incomplete pathways, 443k patients. In NHS North East and North Cumbria the highest rate of patients received treatment within the 18 weeks target. Conversely, only 51% of patients in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin met the target.
In the ICB of Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, 92% of patients waited for the least amount of time for treatment, 36 weeks.
About this map
The map below was created using our ‘Integrated Care Boards’ template, with data from NHS England. To explore detailed figures for your area, double-click on the map or click here to view the full-page version.
Geodata context
This month’s update on NHS waiting times comes as Keir Starmer announced that the Labour government will be scrapping NHS England in an effort to cut bureaucracy and bring management of the health service “back into democratic control”.
Wes Streeting, secretary of state for Health and Social Care: “This is the final nail in the coffin of the disastrous 2012 reorganisation, which led to the longest waiting times, lowest patient satisfaction and most expensive NHS in history.”
Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive officer of NHS Improvement: “We know that while unsettling for our staff, today’s announcement will bring welcome clarity as we focus on tackling the significant challenges ahead and delivering on the government’s priorities for patients.”
Prof Phil Banfield, chair of BMA council: “Doctors’ experiences of reorganisations of the NHS have not been positive. This must not become a distraction from the crucial task that lies ahead: dealing with a historic workforce crisis, bringing down waiting lists and restoring the family doctor.”
Thea Stein, chief executive of Nuffield Trust: “It is not immediately clear that rearranging the locus of the power at the top will make a huge and immediate difference to these issues, which ultimately will be how patients and the public judge the government.”
“[…] profound problems facing the NHS remain: how to meet growing patient need in the face of spiralling waiting lists, and how to invest in care closer to home with the NHS’s wider finances already underwater and social care reform in the long grass”.