Nearly 150,000 patients died while on NHS waiting lists last year

Labour Party says that almost half of patients today wait for more than 18 weeks for treatment

 A Labour Party analysis of NHS trust figures has revealed that around 148,000 people died last year while waiting for treatment in England.

This is more than double the figure recorded in 2017/18, which stood at around 60,000 deaths. It even surpasses the mortality rate observed in 2021, during the peak of the Covid pandemic.

The Labour Party obtained the data through a freedom of information request sent to every NHS trust in England. Out of the 169 acute and community trusts contacted, 80 responded.

The total number of deaths reported by the respondents was 61,396. Extrapolating this figure to all trusts would suggest a total of 148,227 deaths.

According to the FOI findings, 62,000 people died last year after waiting for more than 18 weeks for NHS care.

At Mid and South Essex Trust, over 9,200 patients died last year, with 8,400 of them having waited for more than 18 weeks. There were over 4,000 patient deaths at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust and almost 4,000 at the Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals Trust last year.

The Labour Party highlighted that despite the NHS constitution's provision stating that patients should not wait more than 18 weeks for treatment, almost half of patients today wait longer than that to receive healthcare.  

The party stated that the NHS waiting lists now stand at 7.5 million, a surge of 600,000 since Rishi Sunak assumed the role of Prime Minister.

It cautioned that if the Conservatives continue in power for another five years, waiting lists could reach 10 million.

Wes Streeting, Shadow Health Secretary, said: “Under the Conservatives, shameful numbers of patients are spending their final months stuck on waiting lists, waiting for treatment that never comes.

“Rishi Sunak has no plan to turn the NHS around, so the longer the Conservatives are in charge, the longer patients will wait. If they have another five years, waiting lists will hit 10 million.

“Only Labour has a plan to get the NHS back on its feet, so it is there for us when we need it once again. Our first step will deliver 40,000 extra appointments at evenings and weekends, paid for by clamping down on tax dodgers and closing non-dom loopholes.”

An FOI from the Labour Party found that 117,000 patients died while on NHS waiting lists in 2021, when the country was still in the midst of the Covid pandemic. In 2012/13 around 38,000 patients died while on NHS waiting lists.