Access to care

‘Despite the best efforts of NHS staff, waiting lists for routine NHS care have swollen to levels last seen 15 years ago. There are more than 5.6 million people waiting for care already,' say Siva Anandaciva, Chief Analysis at The King's Fund.

'NHS hospitals face competing demands for their limited resources and a coherent national strategy for balancing these pressures is urgently needed ahead of winter,' says Deborah Ward, Senior Analyst at The King’s Fund.

NHS funding levels are failing to keep pace with growth in NHS spending on medicines, potentially compromising patients’ access to drugs, our research finds.

The NHS is now planning to delay or cancel spending in half of local areas this year to meet financial targets, according to The King’s Fund’s latest quarterly monitoring report.