September 24
Our view
We issued our media response to the latest data from NHS England in September 2024. The data, published on the same day as the Lord Darzi investigation of the NHS in England, further highlights the scale of the challenge facing the health service.
Data from August confirms it has been an incredibly busy summer across urgent and emergency care services. Attendances at A&E departments reached June, July and August records and there were 20,000 more category 1 and 2 ambulance incidents compared to last summer.
High demand continues in elective care too, with a record number of urgent cancer referrals seen in July. The mental health and community sectors also paint the same picture. New referrals in secondary mental health services were the second highest ever, and in June, community services received 50% more referrals than the same period before the pandemic.
September's data also shows trusts are increasing activity and improving performance against national targets. For the third month running, trusts improved their performance on seeing patients within four hours in A&E, moving closer to the 78% target by March 2025. Meanwhile, ambulance trusts met their category 2 response time target of 30 minutes for the first time since April 2023.
Record levels of activity were seen across 28, 31 and 62 day cancer pathways, and the highest ever number of diagnostic tests were carried out. Mental health care contacts were over 2.3 million, nearly 20% higher than five years ago before the pandemic. Community services have consistently recorded over 8.5 million monthly care contacts during the first half of 2024, which has never happened before.
September's data does however show an increase in the number of waits for elective care and community services, demonstrating the longer-term challenge for waiting lists set out in the Lord Darzi report. With the 10-year plan for the NHS on the horizon, trust leaders are ready and willing to work with the government to get to grips with the challenges facing the health and social care system. The themes explored in Lord Darzi's report, of re-engaging staff and empowering patients, shifting care closer to home, driving productivity, investing in technology, and contributing to economic prosperity are a step in the right direction. They must go hand in hand with sustainable funding and investment, an end to chronic workforce shortages and more capital investment to boost productivity and meet growing demand.