Latest NHS performance stats show an NHS under year-round strain

Responding to the latest monthly NHS performance data, Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of The King’s Fund said:  

‘These figures show an NHS under year-round strain, with extreme heat, fragile buildings, corridor care and unresolved workforce tensions all exposing how little resilience there is left in the system.

‘We know that June’s extreme heatwave will have affected vulnerable groups and increased heat related conditions, contributing towards this pressure. This extreme weather is likely to become more common.

‘As well as record temperatures impacting people’s health, there is significant increased risk and disruption caused by crumbling NHS buildings and infrastructure that struggles to cope with climate change, forcing many hospitals to cancel operations because of excess temperatures. The government has given the NHS a longer-term capital settlement, which will help services plan. But the funding on offer is still less than what the NHS would need to make buildings and equipment fit for purpose across England.

‘Today also marks the second month of nationally reported data on corridor care, a much-needed additional layer of transparency. But any number of patients receiving care in corridors should be a wake-up call. These are not isolated incidents but evidence of a system operating beyond safe capacity.

‘Corridor care is not simply a symptom of pressure in emergency departments, it is a sign of wider problems across the health and care system, including difficulties discharging patients and insufficient capacity in community and social care services. We now know that the estimated cost to the NHS of delayed discharges increased by 7.5% in 2025/26 to £2.7bn.

‘Although the decision to call off resident doctors' strike action in June reduced the risk of further disruption, the prospect of consultant strikes underlines the continued fragility of workforce relations. Sustained improvements in NHS performance will be difficult while industrial action remains an ongoing risk.

‘Behind every statistic are patients waiting for care and staff working under immense pressure. The challenge here is not simply to improve metrics, but to create the conditions that allow the NHS to deliver consistently high-quality care for patients over the long term.’