Some 6.44 million sufferers have been ready for 7.71 appointments or procedures in October, down from 6.50m ready for a file 7.77m in September. It was the primary time the whole had fallen since November 2022, when it stood at 6.93m.
The Prime Minister blamed the influence of NHS employees strikes for slower than hoped progress on clearing the backlog.
He stated: “We’ve made progress in the beginning on the longest waiters. The factor that has made that tough is clearly all the economic motion and the strikes that we’ve had.”
Mr Sunak stated he was happy a doable deal had been reached with consultants nevertheless it was “disappointing” to see junior medical doctors planning 9 extra days of walk-outs throughout the busy winter months.
He added: “I feel what we’ll see is that really over the previous few weeks that we haven’t had industrial motion, persons are beginning to see progress in bringing down the ready listing.
READ MORE: Hospital nurse who drugged sufferers for ‘a better shift’ sentenced to 7 years
“I urge the junior medical doctors to think about the provide the Authorities has put ahead – everybody else has settled and it’s actually on them to do the proper factor.”
In the meantime, NHS England stated ambulance response instances had improved in November, in contrast with the earlier month and the identical time final yr.
Common ambulance handover instances had additionally decreased by round two and a half minutes. Nevertheless, one in three sufferers – or over 28,000 – waited greater than 30 minutes to be transferred from an ambulance to A&E final week.
And response instances have been effectively above targets. Ambulance crews took a mean of 38 minutes and 30 seconds to achieve class two calls resembling coronary heart assaults and strokes in November, in opposition to a goal of 18 minutes.
In A&E departments, 69.7 % of individuals have been seen inside 4 hours, down from 70.2 % in October. Some 42,854 waited greater than 12 hours from a call to confess to really being admitted.
Mr Sunak stated the Authorities would “preserve a detailed eye” on ambulance delays. He stated £1billion of additional funding was serving to to place extra ambulances on the street, develop emergency departments and discharge sufferers quicker.
He added: “We all know that winter is at all times a difficult time for the NHS and that’s why this yr as Prime Minister I made positive that we began planning with the NHS for winter sooner than we’ve ever accomplished it.
“All of that’s making a distinction and we’ve seen appreciable enhancements since this time final yr, however clearly we’ll preserve a detailed eye on it and work intently with the NHS to ship everybody the care that they want.”
Some 71.1 % of sufferers with suspected most cancers had it recognized or dominated out inside 28 days, up from 69.7 % the earlier month.
Though a file quantity had most cancers checks in October, 78,500 waited greater than 4 weeks for a analysis or all-clear after an pressing referral.
Sir Julian Hartley, chief govt at NHS Suppliers stated the autumn within the therapy ready listing supplied “the glimmer of hope all of us wanted”.
However he added: “There is no such thing as a room for complacency as we plunge into winter, the toughest time of yr for the NHS. There at the moment are extra individuals in hospital with seasonal diseases…Rising employees absences are additionally worrying. Whereas ambulance response instances have improved barely, they’re nonetheless miles off what they need to be.
“With looming strikes additionally threatening to thwart trusts’ progress on backlogs, it’s important the federal government and unions break the impasse to resolve their industrial disputes.”
Nuffield Belief fellow Jessica Morris stated the autumn in numbers ready was “excellent news” however warned it will be tough to take care of this momentum throughout winter.
She added: “This drop is barely a small fraction (54,000 individuals), with over 6.four million individuals nonetheless ready.
“General, the elective ready listing is 370,000 individuals greater than it was when the prime minister made his pledge to chop lengthy waits at the start of the yr.”
NHS nationwide medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, insisted the well being service had made “wonderful” progress.
He added: “We nonetheless face a difficult winter on numerous fronts, with the variety of sufferers in hospital with flu and norovirus rising significantly every week, continued points discharging sufferers who’re medically match as a result of an absence of social care capability, and one other interval of commercial motion forward of a the Christmas Financial institution Holidays.”
The variety of sufferers in hospital with flu final week had elevated by 65 % from the earlier seven days, to a mean of 402. However this remained effectively beneath the determine of 1,248 at this level final yr.
A median of 506 adults have been in hospital final week with diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus signs, up 1 / 4 from the earlier week and 31 % greater than at this stage final yr.