NHS waiting lists in Greater Manchester are falling – see how things have improved at your local trust
The latest NHS figures show waiting lists have improved across England(Image: PA)
Just hours before the Health Secretary announced his resignation, the latest NHS waiting list figures were released, with Wes Streeting claiming he was leaving office with the health service ‘on the road to recovery’.
The government aimed to have at least 65 per cent of patients on the waiting list for no longer than 18 weeks by March 2026 – a target it met, with national NHS figures revealing that the actual proportion was 65.3 per cent.
The former Health Secretary said this is the ‘biggest cut in waiting lists in a single month in 17 years’. And the data from Greater Manchester paints a similar picture.
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Waiting lists across the region have fallen and more patients are being treated within NHS targets, with the number of treatment pathways on the waiting list in Greater Manchester dropping to 403,000 at the end of March – down from 406,000 the previous month and 432,000 a year earlier.
The figures also show performance against the NHS’s key 18-week treatment target has improved significantly. At the end of March, 63.8 per cent of patients in Greater Manchester had been seen within 18 weeks.
While this doesn’t quite meet the national target of 65 per cent, the latest figures are up from 60.7 per cent a month earlier and 55 per cent this time last year.
Meanwhile, the number of patients waiting more than a year for treatment has fallen sharply. Around 5,800 pathways were waiting over 12 months at the end of March – down 62 per cent compared with March 2025.
Across the wider North West, waiting lists also fell, with 964,000 pathways recorded at the end of March – down 6.6 per cent year-on-year.
Commenting on the figures, Mr Streeting said before his resignation it means the government’s ‘plan for the NHS is working’.
“It means we are right on track to deliver the fastest reduction in waiting times in the history of the NHS,” he wrote.
Health minister Karin Smyth told the Manchester Evening News in a written statement that the latest figures showed the NHS was ‘turning a corner’, but admitted there was still a long way to go.
Minister for Health and Social Care Karin Smyth(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach Plc)
She said: “Too many people are still waiting too long for treatment, and there is more to do.
“But the momentum is real. Waiting lists are falling. Patients are being treated faster.”
Ms Smyth said the North West has been ‘at the heart of this national achievement’. She highlighted work taking place at Trafford Elective Surgical Hub, run by Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where teams are carrying out around 250 planned procedures every week in a dedicated centre designed to reduce cancellations caused by emergency pressures.
According to the minister, the trust has reduced its elective waiting list by 17 per cent over the last 16 months, with more than 34,000 fewer people waiting for care.
She also pointed to ‘Super Saturday’ cardiology clinics aimed at cutting delays for heart patients, alongside efforts across Lancashire and Cheshire and Merseyside to increase appointments and improve cancer treatment waiting times.
While ministers have welcomed the latest improvements, the figures still remain well below NHS standards, which say that 92 per cent of patients should start treatment within 18 weeks.
The overall size of the waiting list fell by over 110,000 in the last month to a total of 7.1 million(Image: David Dubas-Fisher)
Over the last two years, both Mr Streeting and Prime Minister Keir Starmer have made repeated promises that 92 per cent of patients would once again be seen within 18 weeks by 2029.
But the news of the first target being met has been overshadowed by the resignation of Mr Streeting. Speaking on social media, Streeting said that he had ‘lost confidence’ in Keir Starmer’s leadership and it would be ‘dishonourable and unprincipled’ to remain in government.
Responding to Mr Streeting’s resignation, Chief Executive of the health and social care charity The King’s Fund, said ‘he has not stuck around long enough to fix’ the NHS, which he declared as ‘broken’ on his first day on the job, but acknowledged the progress made on waiting lists.
Ms Smyth said that, nationally, ‘[NHS] performance is at a four year high, long waits are falling fast, and record numbers of patients are being treated every month’.
She added: “It’s so easy to boggle at big numbers, but behind every statistic is a person whose life has changed for the better.
“A grandmother, no longer waiting in pain, weeks on end, for a hip operation. A middle-aged man, freed from anxiety, with a timely care plan for cancer treatment.
“Or a working parent, fearing months of post-operative uncertainty, able to leave hospital sooner and get back to work, family and normal life. This is what progress looks like and NHS staff across your region are making it happen.”