Monthly NHS figures also show that only 71 percent of patients in England were seen by doctors within the four-hour target. Last month 29,316 patients faced 12-hour “trolley-waiting” in emergency rooms.
At the same time, 136,200 patients waited more than four hours to see a doctor.
This is a huge increase from the 2,208 patients who had to wait 12 hours in July 2021, which is an example of the staff shortage facing the health service and the crisis in social care.
By the numbers, the NHS’s performance is the worst ever in all statistics.
What makes the numbers even more concerning is that we are currently in the summer period, which is usually considered relatively calm with the possibility of worse.
Medical leaders have warned that patients were dying from long waits and called on the new prime minister to “fix the roof now because winter will only get worse”.
They argued that the crisis would “really start to bite” when Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak were given the keys to number 10 on September 5, accusing both leaders of the contenders of “living in a fantasy world where the NHS is not worth mentioning.” “.
Richard Murray, chief executive of the charity King’s Fund, said the NHS had “barely played a role” in Conservative leadership debates.
He said: “Intense pressure on NHS and social care services has barely been addressed in the Conservative Party leadership race, but the new Prime Minister will inherit a health and care system in a state of steady crisis.”
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By contrast, the waiting list for people seeking life-changing care now stands at a record 6.78 million, meaning one in eight of the population is on the waiting list.
dr. Adrian Boyle, of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, criticized conservative candidates for leadership, arguing that there was “no political will” to deal with the crisis.
He said: “We see the sharp decline of the health service and we see little to no political will to deal with or recognize the crisis – none of the leadership candidates seem to recognize the magnitude of the crisis.
“Winter is just around the corner, which will bring a wave of flu and Covid and an increase in the number of emergency room visitors, with the data as dire as it is today and the extent of damage to the patient that has already occurred. occurs, we fear to imagine how much worse things could get for patients.
“We can reach a point where only half of patients are seen or treated within four hours and an even higher number of waiting times of 12 hours.”