The King's Fund report showed children were 38 times more likely than adults to be enduring long waits with the situation deteriorating further in recent years.

Niamh Buckingham, policy adviser at The King's Fund and author of the work, said: ‘We welcome the new secretary of state's for health and social care's greater focus on children's health, but there must be a recognition from ministers across Government that this cannot be treated as an issue to be dealt with by a singular department. Some of the biggest opportunities to sustainably tackle these long waits and improve outcomes sit within policies related to poverty, housing, education, employment and family support, not solely within health and care.'

The think-tank's analysis found 86,000 children had been on a waiting list for community health services for 52 weeks or longer as of July 2026 (27%) compared with just 0.7% of adults.

The Government's interim target for community waits is for 78% to be seen within 18 weeks by the end of 2026/27. As of July 2026, 86% of adults on the list waited less than 18 weeks compared to 48% of children. This gap has widened since February 2024, when 82% of adults and 58% of children were seen within this time frame.

Out of the 86,000 children who have been waiting for longer than 52 weeks, 80,000 were waiting for community paediatric services (a specialist child health assessment, diagnostic and treatment service to meet the needs of children with a disability or developmental conditions). Year-long waits equated to a staggering 45% of all those on the community paediatric services waiting list, up from 19%, or 20,000, in February 2024.