Queue for NHS has grown since 2001

The number of people waiting for NHS treatment has fallen this year, but is still higher than 12 months ago, figures published yesterday show.

There were 1.05 million people waiting for in-patient hospital treatment at the end of August, 13,600 more than a year ago, a rise of 1.3 per cent. But the figure was 1,800 fewer than in July.

The Government chose to highlight instead the fall in waits of more than 12 months, which dropped by 700 in August to 18,200. The Health Department said the NHS was on course to meet the target of no patients waiting more than 12 months by next March. The total has dropped by 26,700, or 59 per cent, since a year ago.

Just 32 patients had been waiting more than 15 months, 30 of them at Good Hope Hospital in Coventry, in breach of the Government's target to clear all 15-month waits by March this year.

Doctors have accused NHS managers of distorting clinical priorities by insisting long waiting lists were cleared. But the Health Department said guidance published by the NHS Modernisation Agency made it clear clinically urgent patients should be treated first.

John Hutton, a Health minister, said the hard work of NHS staff was having an impact. "There is a long way to go but reducing waiting for treatment is the public's number one concern. It is our top priority." The target is that, by 2005, no one should wait longer than six months for in-patient treatment or three months for an out-patient appointment.

Dr Liam Fox, the shadow Health Minister, said: "Headline numbers once again show waiting lists up compared to a year ago ... Capacity is barely growing, activity is almost stagnant, and bottlenecks exist everywhere."