More than 120,000 people in England died last year while on the NHS waiting list for hospital treatment, according to figures obtained by Labour. This is double the 60,000 deaths recorded in 2017/18 and represents a record high.
Labour requested data from 138 health trusts on how many patients died during 2022 while awaiting treatment. Only 35 trusts (25%) responded, reporting 30,611 deaths. Labour then extrapolated this to estimate 120,695 deaths across England. Examples include 3,615 deaths at the Royal Free hospital in London, 2,888 at Morecambe Bay trust, and 2,039 at Leeds teaching hospitals trust.
Healthwatch England described the figures as a 'national tragedy', with chief executive Louise Ansari stating that 'delays to care have significant impacts on people's lives, putting many in danger.' Dr Emma Runswick of the British Medical Association called the fatalities a 'terrible indictment of this government's mismanagement of our health services.'
However, NHS England criticised the methodology, noting that the analysis was based on data from only a quarter of trusts and did not establish a link between waiting times and deaths. An NHS spokesperson said it would be 'misleading' to suggest such a link without details on cause of death or patients' medical conditions.
Despite this, doctors' groups supported the findings. Dr Tim Cooksley of the Society for Acute Medicine warned that waiting lists could reach 9 million, while Matthew Taylor of the NHS Confederation said the figures were 'a stark reminder about the potential repercussions of long waits for care.' The Royal Free London trust disputed the implication that waiting contributed to deaths, stating that a review found no patients came to severe harm as a result of their wait.
