Longest waits for NHS hospital treatment show further fall

New figures have revealed that the numbers of patients facing the longest waits for treatment at local hospitals have fallen significantly over the last 12 months.

The data, published by NHS England, show that the number waiting over 65 weeks in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes was 509 in February 2025, compared with 2,127 a year earlier.  This represents a fall of 76.1% in the number waiting 65 weeks or more.

The number of people waiting 78 weeks or longer in February 2025 was 144, compared with 190 in February 2024, a reduction of 24.2%.

Dr Andrew Rochford, chief medical officer at Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board, said:

“This further reduction in the longest waits for treatment is more good news for local patients.  I’m pleased to see these figures and am grateful to the teams at our local trusts for the progress they are making on waiting lists in line with, or faster than, the national average, but we still have a lot more to do.

“The national standard is that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from being referred to beginning their treatment.  Over the last few months we have seen a consistent fall in the number of people experiencing the longest waits, and colleagues across the NHS are working hard to reduce them further.”

Across England, February’s data show there were 13,223 patients who had waited 65 weeks or longer, compared with 75,004 in February 2024 (a reduction of 82.4%).  A total of 1,691 people had been waiting for 78 weeks or longer, compared with 9,969 a year previously (a fall of 83.0%).