A&E waiting times have fallen to a five-year low despite record attendances in March as the NHS endured a ‘prolonged winter’. There were a record 2.43 million A&E attendances in March — 16,000 more than the previous record in May 2024 — yet almost four in five patients (77.1%) were seen within four hours, the best performance since July 2021. The surge in demand was partly driven by reports of a meningitis outbreak in mid‑March.
England’s top doctors say the NHS is “within touching distance” of its elective recovery target. The service is progressing towards treating 65% of patients within 18 weeks by the end of March — a level not reached since November 2021. At the end of February, 62.6% of patients had waited under 18 weeks, up 1.1 percentage points from January 2026. The total waiting list fell to 7.22 million in February 2026, a decrease of 31,006 from January and more than 400,000 down from July 2024.
Cancer pathways also improved: 80.5% of patients with suspected cancer received a diagnosis or had cancer ruled out within 28 days in February, the highest proportion on record, with 208,293 people receiving results that month.
Ambulance response times for the most serious incidents, such as suspected heart attacks and strokes, averaged 26 minutes 18 seconds in March — the best performance since May 2021. Between March 2025 and February 2026 the NHS carried out a record 29,863,709 tests and checks, over one million more than the previous year. This follows the announcement of 36 new and expanded Community Diagnostic Centres backed by a £237 million government investment to boost diagnostic capacity and deliver more care locally.
NHS Deputy CEO and Medical Director Professor Meghana Pandit said she was proud of staff efforts getting the service close to its elective recovery target despite the busiest winter on record and disruption from industrial action, noting pressures remain high but patients have been seen faster than in recent years.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said the figures show progress since inheriting an NHS in crisis, highlighting reductions in waiting lists, record on‑time cancer diagnoses, and improved ambulance and A&E waits. As a kidney cancer survivor, he said he is personally invested in faster cancer care, but stressed there is more to do to reduce long waits and continue the NHS’s recovery.
