Thanks to the hard work of health service staff, the covid backlog fell for the fourth month in a row in January.
As a result, the number of patients on the waiting list decreased by more than 43,000 in January alone, meaning that the total number has reduced by almost 175,000 since September. This improvement was achieved even though one in five days in January were impacted by industrial action.
As part of continued efforts to tackle the covid backlog, the NHS is maintaining focus on those facing the longest waits, with the number waiting over 65 weeks down by 60% on the peak in June 2021.
The number waiting over a year has also fallen, meaning as a proportion of the overall waiting list, it is the lowest since October 2020.
* Update from the NHS
