Falling NHS waiting times for Crawley patients

Data from NHS England has revealed that waiting lists in the South East have fallen by 35,201 since the last General Election. Across the country, NHS waiting list figures show a drop in April, barring the special measures put in place at the start of the pandemic this marks the first such reduction in 17 years and the lowest waiting lists in two years.

At the election, the Labour Party promised an additional 2m more appointments, a target which was achieved seven months early, with 3.6m extra appointments now having been delivered since last July.

The data follows announcements made by the Chancellor in the Spending Review, with record levels of investment in our National Health Service to get the NHS back on its feet and fit for the future, enabling the NHS to cut waiting lists, improve patient care and modernise services.

Peter Lamb, MP for Crawley said:

“After the Tories left waiting lists at a record high and patient satisfaction at a record low, hundreds of residents in Crawley were stuck left waiting for treatment.

Just last year in 2024, March figures showed that Surrey and Sussex NHS Healthcare NHS Trust, responsible for providing NHS hospital services in the Crawley area, show 45.1% of patients are not being seen within 18 weeks.

That’s why falling waiting lists in South East is such good news, as this Labour Government puts the NHS on the road to recovery.

Together we can be the generation that takes the NHS from the worst crisis in its history and makes it fit for the future.”

Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said:

“We are putting the NHS on the road to recovery after years of soaring waiting times, by providing record investment and fundamental NHS reform.

“Thanks to our interventions and the hard work of NHS staff, the overall waiting list has now fallen in April for the first time in 17 years – dropping by almost a quarter of a million since we took office.

“This is just the start. We’ve delivered millions of extra appointments since July, we are pushing on with our mission to get the NHS working for patients in [add region] once again as we deliver our Plan for Change.”