We respond to October's Combined Performance Summary

Professor John Appleby responds to the latest performance figures from NHS England.

Press release

Published: 08/12/2016

Commenting on the Combined Performance Summary for October published this morning by NHS England, Nuffield Trust Chief Economist and Director of Research Professor John Appleby said:

These figures reveal just how tough things are for the NHS as winter approaches. With one in fourteen people in England now on a waiting list, we are getting to the point where no family is immune from the growing pressures facing our health service.

Professor John Appleby, Chief Economist, Nuffield Trust

“These figures reveal just how tough things are for the NHS as winter approaches. With one in fourteen people in England now on a waiting list, we are getting to the point where no family is immune from the growing pressures facing our health service.

“Almost 50,000 people waiting to be admitted to hospital were stuck on trolleys in October - a rise of 54% compared to this time last year - and over one in ten people waited longer than four hours at A&E. This already matches performance in the depths of winter last year and is deeply troubling. 

“As our QualityWatch report published today suggests, NHS staff have worked hard to protect patients from the effects of financial austerity on the health service. But we are now reaching the point at which the pressures on the NHS are so great that the service is vulnerable to serious lapses of care.”

Notes to editors

  • Today the Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation have published ‘Quality at a cost’, the fourth annual statement from their joint QualityWatch programme. The report looks at a wide range of indicator on healthcare and finds that while performance is being maintained and improving in some areas, a worrying rise in waiting times suggests that the NHS could be vulnerable to serious lapses in care. 
  • John Appleby has pulled out some of the most important aspects of October's Combined Performance Summary relating to quality, which can be found on the QualityWatch website

For more information, please contact:

Leonora Merry on 0207 462 0526/ 07968974589 or Kirsty Ridyard on 020 7462 0552

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