NHS staff treated a record 1.56m patients in June, a 2% increase year-on-year.

The proportion of patients waiting less than 18 weeks for treatment in June was 61.5%, the highest since June 2022. The longest waits of over 52 and 65 weeks also fell.

This progress came amid a surge in people coming forward for care – with 141,809 more referrals onto the waiting list - or 3.2% - than the year before (1.83m vs 1.69m) - meaning the waiting list rose slightly by 9,712 to 7.37m. That equates to an estimated 6.23m patients waiting for care.

It was also a record June for the number of diagnostic tests and checks performed, with 2.5m delivered.

For cancer, the NHS hit the Faster Diagnosis Standard with 76.8% - or 218,463 people - having cancer ruled out or diagnosed within 28 days, the highest June since the standard was introduced. More than 53,000 patients also started treatment for cancer within 31 days.

The NHS also continued to make improvements in urgent and emergency care. Despite the busiest July on record for A&E with 2.4 million attendances, 76.4% were seen within four hours, the highest proportion in almost four years. The number of patients waiting more than four hours to be admitted - 115,542 - was the lowest since July 2023.

Ambulance performance continued to improve with an average Category 2 response time of 28:40, well within the NHS's interim target for 2025/26 of 30 minutes. This was despite high demand, with staff answering 843,535 calls to 999.

Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS national medical director, said: ‘The latest figures show NHS staff continuing to deliver significant improvements in care for patients against a tide of rising demand, with a record number of patients being treated, tested or having cancer ruled in or out for any June – while July saw much faster A&E waiting times despite higher than usual attendance and industrial action.

‘We know seasonality can have a big impact on waiting lists and it is encouraging to see that as more people come forward for care, we are also increasing activity at a steady rate with over 100,000 more treatments delivered this June compared to last.'

Health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting, said: ‘A year ago, we promised two million more appointments. One year on, we have delivered almost an extra five million appointments.

'As a result, today's figures show that, despite record numbers of people coming forward for treatment, we are cutting waiting times, with the lowest number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment in three years.'

Separate data showing the impact of last month's industrial action by resident doctors has also been published, showing the results of a more robust approach by NHS leaders with staff working around the clock to keep services open for patients.

More care was delivered during the July 2025 resident doctors' strike than in the five-day June 2024 walkout, with NHS analysis estimating that an additional 11,071 appointments and procedures went ahead.

Staff absence due to industrial action was lower during this latest round, with around 1,243 fewer staff absent each day on average compared to last June, a 7.5% drop.