NHS & Health
32 countersThe NHS waiting list in England currently stands at approximately 7.3 million people — gradually falling from its 2024 peak. Each year the NHS handles over 27.4 million A&E attendances, 388 million GP appointments and 1.2 billion prescriptions. With over 112,000 staff vacancies and a £3 billion annual agency staff bill, the NHS faces an unprecedented capacity crisis. All NHS statistics are sourced from NHS England, NHS Digital and the Department of Health and Social Care.
People on NHS Waiting List Right Now
Patients Added to Waiting List This Year
A&E Attendances Today
A&E Attendances This Year
Patients Waiting Over 4hrs in A&E Today
Patients Waiting Over 12hrs in A&E Today
Ambulance Call-outs Today
999 Calls Today
NHS 111 Calls Today
GP Appointments Today
GP Appointments This Year
Prescriptions Issued Today
Prescriptions Issued This Year
Operations Performed Today
Operations Performed This Year
Cancer Diagnoses This Year
Mental Health Referrals This Year
People Waiting for Mental Health Treatment
Cost of NHS Today
Cost of NHS This Year
NHS Staff Vacancies Right Now
Nurses Who Left Profession This Year
Doctors Who Left Profession This Year
NHS Staff Sick Days This Year
Ambulance Handover Delay Hours Today
Patients Unable to Get NHS Dentist
Agency/Locum Staff Cost This Year
Deaths on NHS Waiting List This Year (est.)
Antidepressant Prescriptions This Year
Adults Prescribed Antidepressants (England)
Average Wait for Elective Treatment
Annual NHS Agency Staff Bill
Frequently Asked Questions
Based on official UK government data
How many people are on the NHS waiting list in 2026?
The NHS waiting list in England currently stands at approximately 7.3 million people — the gradually falling from its 2024 peak — according to NHS England statistics. This includes patients waiting for elective procedures, outpatient appointments and diagnostic tests, with some waiting over two years for treatment.
How many people attend A&E in the UK each year?
Over 25 million people attend A&E departments in England each year, according to NHS England data. This equates to approximately 68,500 attendances every day. Around 1.1 million patients wait over 12 hours in A&E annually, contributing to significant pressure on the emergency care system.
How much does the NHS cost per day?
The NHS costs approximately £452 million every day to run, based on total NHS England expenditure of around £179 billion per year. Agency staff costs alone amount to approximately £8.2 million per day, with the NHS carrying over 112,000 staff vacancies.
Deep Dive Statistics
Explore detailed statistics for specific topics within this section.
More NHS Questions — Frequently Asked
Based on NHS England, DHSC and King's Fund data
How long is the NHS waiting list in 2026?
The NHS waiting list in England stood at approximately 7.3 million people in early 2026, waiting for elective treatment. This is down from a peak of 7.8 million in 2023 but remains far above pre-pandemic levels of around 4.4 million. The government's target is to reduce the list to 92% of patients being seen within 18 weeks by 2029. Around 300,000 people have been waiting over a year for treatment.
How many NHS staff are there in the UK?
The NHS employs approximately 1.78 million people in England alone, making it one of the largest employers in the world. This includes around 125,000 doctors, 350,000 nurses and midwives, 22,000 paramedics and over 700,000 support staff. There are approximately 112,000 vacancies across the NHS, with nursing and mental health roles the hardest to fill.
How much does the NHS spend per year?
The NHS budget for England in 2024/25 is approximately £179 billion, up from £100 billion in 2015/16. The UK spends around 11% of GDP on healthcare in total including private spending. NHS spending per person in England is approximately £2,900 per year. The largest cost areas are staff pay (around 65% of the budget), drugs and medicines, and building and equipment costs.
How does the NHS compare to other countries?
The Commonwealth Fund consistently ranks the NHS highly for equity and access — it ranked 3rd overall among 10 wealthy nations in 2024. However, the UK performs poorly on health outcomes including cancer survival rates and avoidable deaths compared to France, Germany and Australia. The UK spends less per person on healthcare than most comparable countries, at around $4,500 per person versus $7,000 in Germany and $12,000 in the USA.
What is the NHS A&E waiting time target?
The NHS target is for 95% of A&E patients to be seen, treated and either admitted or discharged within 4 hours. This target has not been met nationally since July 2015. In 2023/24, only around 73% of patients were seen within 4 hours. The number of patients waiting over 12 hours in A&E has increased dramatically, from around 1,000 per month before the pandemic to over 50,000 per month in 2022-23.
How many people use NHS dentistry?
Approximately 50% of adults in England saw an NHS dentist in the two years to March 2024 — down from 60% before the pandemic. Around 8 million people in England cannot access an NHS dentist. Many practices have stopped taking NHS patients due to low NHS contract values, with the number of NHS dentists falling by around 4,000 since 2019. The government announced a new dental contract in 2024 to try to address the crisis.
NHS Key Performance Metrics — 2019 vs 2026
How NHS performance has changed before and after the pandemic.
| Metric | Pre-Covid (2019) | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elective waiting list | 4.4m | 7.5m | ↑ +70% |
| A&E seen within 4hrs | 85% | 73% | ↓ Worse |
| NHS staff vacancies | 84,000 | 112,000 | ↑ +33% |
| Annual budget (England) | £130bn | £179bn | ↑ +27% |
| Waiting over 12hrs A&E | ~1,000/mo | ~40,000/mo | ↑ 40× worse |
| NHS dentist access | 60% | 50% | ↓ Worse |
Source: NHS England Statistics / King's Fund / DHSC
Dive Deeper — NHS & Health Statistics
Detailed data pages with live counters, FAQs and historical tables
The NHS Waiting List in Numbers: How 7.5 Million People Are Waiting
Our detailed analysis of the NHS waiting list crisis — how 7.3 million pathways built up, who is waiting longest and for what treatments, the 18-week standard in historical context, A&E performance, the workforce crisis driving delays, and what NHS England's recovery plan involves.
Read the full analysis →