NHS surgery waiting lists highest level in almost a decade

NHS surgery waiting lists highest level in almost a decade The number of patients waiting too long for routine operations is at its highest level in almost a decade, NHS figures reveal.

More than 400,000 patients have been waiting at least 18 weeks for procedures including hip and knee replacements and cataract surgery.

This is the highest number since September 2008 and prompting experts to warn that hospitals were going backwards.

Under the NHS Constitution, its rulebook, patients have a right to have an operation or procedure within 18 weeks of being referred by their consultant.

But figures for August show that 1 in 10 patients were waiting longer - only 89.4 per cent were treated within this 18 week target. The Daily Mail