Trusts part of the Further Faster 20 (FF20) programme saw waiting lists fall by 4.2% from October 2024 to October 2025 compared with 1.4% nationally, with the rate for working age adults falling five times faster.

Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘By sending crack teams into hospitals to supercharge care, opening more community diagnostic centres longer and later, and cutting wasteful spending, we're turning the tanker round and patients are starting to feel the difference.'

The FF20 programme sees teams work alongside local staff to transform how planned operations and outpatient appointments are delivered. This includes High Flow Theatre Lists, where experts perform ‘Formula 1 style' surgery with theatres operating continuously, allowing surgeons to complete planned operations quicker. 

Streamlining outpatient processes also played a major role. Trusts cut unnecessary appointments by sending patients ‘straight to test' rather than multiple clinic visits.

The findings of the FF20 report come one year after the launch of the Elective Reform Plan which targets ensuring that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks for referral to treatment by the end of Parliament with an interim target of 65% by March 2026.

Streeting added: ‘We said our Elective Reform Plan would get waiting lists down and one year on that's exactly what it's delivering. Along with record investment, we're doing things differently to get patients seen quicker, back to work and living their lives.'

The latest NHSE waiting list figures published today show a 86,000 decline in November to 7.31m despite the NHS's busiest ever year, with 27.8m A&E attendances in 2025 – over 367,000 up on 2024, with 2.33m attendances in December alone.

Since July 2024, the waiting list has fallen by 312,000 (Jul 24 – Nov 25). 

Reaction

Daniel Elkeles, chief executive, NHS Providers, said: ‘It's great to see NHS trusts' innovation and hard work to see patients quickly, cut waiting lists and boost productivity making such a huge contribution to the economy and growth. This is all the more impressive given the impact of record demand, resident doctor strikes and a relentless focus on delivering a financial ‘break even' position for the NHS as a whole.'

Rory Deighton, acute and community care director at the NHS Confederation, said the ambition to get least 65% of patients across the country treated within 18 weeks by the end of March ‘remains highly challenging'.

‘Hitting this target consistently and going further will require sustained focus, realistic planning and continued support, especially in the context of workforce pressures, constrained finances and the potential for yet more industrial action,' Deighton added.

Siva Anandaciva, director of policy, events and partnerships at The King's Fund, said: ‘It is a good thing that waiting lists in parts of England are coming down. But the reality check is that the overall hospital waiting list in England stood at 7.5m last year and has only fractionally fallen to 7.4m despite a full year of funding, energy and focus from the Government and NHS. While progress is happening, it is slow going and the Government's ambition to cut hospital waiting times is hanging in the balance at best.'

Anadaciva added: ‘The relationship between people's health and the economy is a two-way street and truly breaking the complex cycle of long-term illness and economic inactivity will require coordinated action across government. This means looking beyond the NHS and Department for Health and Social Care and resurrecting the cross-government ‘health mission' approach the government promised when it came to power.'