Approximately 7.57 million Britons are waiting for routine healthcare treatment in the United Kingdom's National Health Service, according to new numbers released on Thursday.
Slightly over a month after the NHS's 75th anniversary, fresh data reveal that wait times for the U.K.'s nationalized healthcare system have tripled from pre-pandemic levels, including an increase of 100,000 patients between May and June of this year.
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As of the end of June, 314 U.K. citizens had been waiting more than two years to receive routine healthcare treatments, such as hip replacements. Over 7,000 patients had been waiting for over 18 months, and over 380,000 had been waiting for more than a year.
The majority of patients waiting for care, over 4 million, had been waiting for up to 18 weeks, according to the NHS report.
The summer 2023 spike is in part due to the series of strikes of junior NHS doctors in recent months, causing periodic breaks in healthcare provision across the U.K.
A new strike from Aug. 11 to Aug. 15 will be the fifth junior doctor strike, amounting to a total of 450 service hours or 19 full days with the NHS only functioning on two-thirds of medical staff.
“This latest round of junior doctors strikes will again significantly disrupt services for patients and the additional challenge this time is that organisations are unable to use agency workers to cover staff out on strike," NHS National Medical Director Stephen Powis said in a press statement about the most recent strike. "It is also a period of time where NHS staff often take annual leave, so there are already gaps in the workforce."
A press statement from the NHS indicated that nearly 780,000 hospital appointments had been postponed because of the physician strikes.
Thursday's report puts significant strain on British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has promised to reduce waiting list times.
"Today's data is a reminder of the significant pressure on staff, with this summer currently on trajectory to be the busiest in NHS history, all while industrial action continues to disrupt services," Julian Redhead of NHS England told reporters in response to the report.
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The NHS has often been referenced by critics of the U.S. healthcare system as an example of a successful universal healthcare system.
This summer, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), along with Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI), reintroduced the Medicare for All Act to restructure the U.S. healthcare system.