NHS productivity has grown by 2.4 percent in April to July 2025 compared with the same period last year.
The figure is based on the output of treatments, operations and appointments; and it is above the NHS productivity target of 2 percent.
This has been achieved through more same-day discharges, shorter hospital stays, better use of technology, reduced reliance on agency staff, cut in back office staff to reinvest funds on the front line, improved staff retention, more surgical hubs and community diagnostic centres running evening and weekend appointments.
These improvements build on the 2.7 percent increase between April 2024 and March 2025 and is significantly above the long-term trend for health productivity (0.6 percent).
This shows that the NHS is making strong progress in its recovery and is on track to meet its productivity commitments, despite working through record waiting lists, seasonal pressures, and industrial action.
Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said, "This data shows our reforms are bearing fruit as the NHS continues to outperform its productivity target.
"We’ve sent in crack teams of top clinicians across the country, opened up more services at evenings and weekends, and slashed agency spending by almost a third.
"It’s leading to more patients treated and less taxpayer money wasted.
"We know there’s more to do, but these numbers show the NHS is turning a corner."
He hoped that the productivity improvement could help the NHS become sustainable for taxpayers and deliver for patients.
NHS England has measured productivity across both staff and non-staff inputs and weighted by how complex and demanding a treatment is to deliver (for example, giving more weight to brain surgery than cheaper, more routine procedures), giving a comprehensive view of efficiency improvements rather than simple activity counts.
To track progress, a new productivity index is being developed - overseen by Andy Haldane, former chief economist at the Bank of England.
