7.6 million: How England’s healthcare waiting list trebled under the Tories

Waiting times for National Health Service care have also risen sharply across the UK since ruling Conservatives came to power in 2010.

After 14 years of a Conservative Party government in the United Kingdom, far more people are waiting to access medical care, and for longer.

The NHS waiting list for treatment referrals in England hit 7.6 million cases in April – a threefold rise since 2010.

The referral-to-treatment figures show the number of cases of patients waiting for elective care. As patients can be waiting for multiple treatments, the actual number of people on the list is lower – an estimated 6.3 million.

Of the 7.6 million cases, more than 302,500 involved waits longer than 52 weeks. About 50,400 cases were waiting for more than 65 weeks, and nearly 5,000 involved waits of more than 78 weeks.

The median waiting time was 13.9 weeks, up from 5.2 weeks in March 2010.