NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard has said that it remains on course to 'eliminate two year waiting list' by the end of July.

Patients who remain on the waiting list are being asked whether they are prepared to travel to receive treatment. More than 400 have agreed, with 140 booked in for surgery at a different hospital.

NHS England says that from weekend clinics to dedicated surgery hubs and ensuring treatment transfers can happen, staff are doing everything possible to bring down long waits for treatment for patients.

Amanda Pritchard said:

“As happened around the world, COVID backlogs inevitably built up as hospitals here treated more than 750,000 people with the virus as well as caring for many more in the community.

“Millions who did not seek help earlier in the pandemic are now coming forward, but thanks to the hard work of NHS staff we have made big progress on the longest waits despite Omicron and a difficult winter.

“As part of the biggest and most ambitious catch up programme in NHS history, staff are now on track to virtually eliminate two-year waiters by the end of July.

“But the NHS will not stop here, from delivering one million tests and checks through our newly rolled out community diagnostic centres to new state of the art same day hip replacements, staff are constantly looked for new and innovative ways to treat patients quicker, especially those who have been waiting a long time.

“One of the benefits of the NHS is that hospitals can work together to bring COVID backlogs down together and so if people can and want to be treated quicker elsewhere in the country, NHS staff are ensuring that it can happen.

“Once again NHS staff are demonstrating the agility, resilience and compassion that shows when they are given the tools and resources they need, they deliver for our patients”.