Health secretary again overstates size of NHS waiting list
This is not quite right according to the latest NHS England figures. They show that in January 2025 there were actually about 6.3 million people on the NHS England waiting list for elective care, and about 7.4 million cases.
As we’ve written many times before, including about a claim Mr Streeting made in February which also overstated the number of people on the waiting list, there are always more cases than people on the list as some people are waiting for treatment for more than one thing.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) recently acknowledged the distinction during discussions with Full Fact. It explained that it was concerned by the risk of confusion if the number of patients and the number of cases were used in different contexts, but told us that it would recommend saying “cases where a patient is waiting” in future.
We’ve contacted Mr Streeting’s office and the DHSC about his claim today and will update this blog if we hear back.
You can read more about NHS waiting lists in our explainer.