Make NHS waiting lists fall
“Fourth, NHS waiting lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly.”
- Promised
Where it stands
The pledge gives no date or figure. NHS England counted 7.21 million patients waiting for planned hospital treatment in England at the end of October 2022, the latest figure when it was made, and 7.6 million waiting-list pathways (about 6.4 million people) at the end of June 2024, the last full month before Rishi Sunak left office on 5 July 2024. Without a date the card cannot be marked met or not met, so it stays at Promised. No body in power is committed to it as worded; the present government's commitment is on waiting times (card uk-nhs-18-weeks-2024).
What has happened
- Jan 2023The Prime Minister makes falling NHS waiting lists the fourth of five promises, Promised
About the cost
No figure in the speech, and no costing of the pledge was published.
More detail
Sources (3)
How cards are checked
Status follows the promise standard, the same for every party. A status changes only on evidence. Anyone named on a card can reply, and replies are published next to it. AI Journalist is our automated reviewer: it re-reads every card against its live sources (the quote word for word, dates, evidence, status, cost, neutral wording, legal risk). An editor, Pavel Guzhikov, then checks each card against its sources and approves it.
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