NHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in England

Exclusive: Health secretary’s pledges in doubt as analysis shows health service will not deliver key improvements

The NHS is set to miss key targets to shorten waiting times for help at A&E, cancer care and planned hospital treatment, leaving millions of patients facing persistently long delays.

The health service in England will not deliver a series of milestone improvements in its performance that ministers demanded it achieve by the time the fiscal year ends on Tuesday, a Guardian analysis of the NHS’s most recent data has found.

The number of people forced to wait more than 13 weeks for a test – well over the six-week supposed maximum – has risen to 139,652, the highest number since January 2024.

Based on its recent growth, the diagnostic waiting list will hit 2 million by September next year.

While NHS trusts are delivering large volumes of diagnostic tests, the waiting list for them is still growing.