The NHS delivered more elective activity in 2025 than any other year in its history, helping cut the waiting list to its lowest level since February 2023.
Staff completed a historic high of 18.4 million treatments and operations in 2025, up from 18 million in 2024, with the waiting list falling to 7.29 million. Today’s data shows 1.43 million treatments were delivered in December – 91,775 more than last year – despite five days of industrial action by resident doctors, with staff maintaining almost 95% of usual activity during strikes.
The percentage of people waiting over 18 weeks for treatment slightly decreased to 61.5%, while those waiting over 52 weeks dropped to just 1.9% – the lowest since June 2020 – as the Elective Reform Plan continues to target the longest waits and speed up access to care.
Progress has been driven by expanding community diagnostic centres and surgical hubs, creating more evening and weekend clinics, and sending patients ‘straight to test’ to reduce multiple clinic visits. Staff used innovations such as high-intensity theatre (HIT) lists across elective surgery hubs and robotic-assisted surgery to increase the number of patients treated, shorten procedures, and speed recovery.
Demand across urgent and emergency services remains high, with the NHS on track for its busiest winter ever. A&E saw a record January of 2,320,266 attendances – 4.6% higher than January 2025 – and ambulance services faced record incident numbers across December and January. Despite this, staff admitted, transferred or discharged 206,800 more people within four hours in Type 1 A&E departments across winter so far compared with last year (3.4 million in October 2025 to January 2026 vs 3.2 million in October 2024 to January 2025).
Four-hour A&E performance has been 73.5% across winter so far – up from 72.1% last year and below 70% the year before. Ambulance response times are quicker than last winter, with both Category 1 and Category 2 response times improved (C1 8:08 and C2 35:04 in January 2026 vs C1 8:16 and C2 35:39 in January 2025).
Separate figures published today show hospitals are still dealing with seasonal viruses, with an average of 1,119 patients in hospital with flu and 929 with norovirus each day last week.
The government launched the National Cancer Plan last week, committing the NHS to meet all cancer waiting time standards by 2029 and treat hundreds of thousands more patients within 62 days. In December, staff carried out 2.37 million tests and checks, and 77.4% of people received either the all-clear or a cancer diagnosis within four weeks of an urgent suspected cancer referral – the highest proportion in nine months (76.7% in April 2025).
Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England, said completing a historic high of elective activity is a triumph for NHS staff who continue to innovate to treat more patients, faster. He noted that early preparations helped shorten ambulance waits and improve A&E treatment times this winter, while acknowledging more work is needed to improve patient flow and reduce the longest emergency department waits. He also urged the public to continue using services appropriately – calling 999 in an emergency and otherwise using 111 online, local pharmacists or GPs.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said the NHS has cut waiting lists by more than 330,000 and delivered record levels of care in 2025 despite flu and industrial action. He credited unprecedented investment, modernisation, and staff dedication for the progress, highlighting new diagnostic centres, surgical hubs and modern equipment as key to rebuilding the NHS.
Yellow cold health alerts from the UK Health Security Agency cover the upcoming weekend (Friday 13 to Monday 16 February), with temperatures expected to fall below freezing. This could increase pressure on hospitals, particularly affecting vulnerable people, and the NHS again urged the public to seek appropriate care when needed.
