Analysis by the BBC shows that one in five local hospital services are constantly failing to hit any of their key waiting-time targets.
The analysis reveals that out of 157 trusts and boards, 29 have failed to hit a single target for the whole year. Looking at the picture on a national level it is believed the performance has sunk to its worst levels in recent times with each part of the UK missing its three key NHS targets every month or quarter for more than a year. In Scotland the last time the target was met was in August 2017 whilst in Wales, none of the three key targets has been met for at least five years.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents managers, said the system was facing “significant strain”.
NHS leaders have said the NHS is facing a very difficult winter.
Dome Donna Kinnair, of the Royal College of Nursing, said the NHS was going into the winter “on the back foot” stating that research by the RCN showed hospitals were facing a shortage of both beds and staff with images of “patients waiting on trolleys in corridors” becoming all too common.
The Department of Health and Social Care in England praised “hard-working staff” and said the extra money being provided to the health service in the coming years would put it on a “sustainable footing”.
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