Local NHS waiting lists fall again, despite small national increase

NHS waiting lists in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes have fallen again, according to new figures issued by NHS England.

Despite a small rise of just over 9,500 (0.1%) across England as a whole in June 2025, the number of patients waiting for treatment in the local area fell for the third month running.  At the end of June, there were 133,824 people on NHS waiting lists in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes, a reduction of 2,646 (1.9%) on the previous month and 11,916 (8.2%) fewer than in June 2024.

There was more good news locally, with the number of people waiting longer than 52 weeks for treatment falling for the 13th month in a row.  At the end of June 2025, 167 (4.0%) fewer people had been waiting for longer than a year than in the previous month, representing a fall of 5,336 (57.4%) compared with June 2024.

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

“These figures continue to show steady reductions in the numbers of people waiting for treatment, and in those waiting the longest.  We still have more to do, but our local trusts are making good progress in reducing waiting lists for patients.

“The national standard is that nobody should wait longer than 18 weeks from referral to beginning their treatment.  We have seen substantial reductions over the past year or so in the number of people waiting the longest times for treatment, and NHS staff are continuing to work very hard to maintain that progress.”

Across England, there were 7,369,169 people waiting for NHS treatment in June 2025, compared with 7,621,297 in the same month last year.