North West NHS hails record elective activity as thousands fewer patients wait for treatment
Thursday, 14 May 2026
NHS teams across the North West are being praised for their role in delivering a landmark year for elective care, as new national figures published today show the NHS performed its highest ever number of surgeries, tests, checks and elective appointments in a single financial year.
The results come as NHS England publishes its latest operational performance statistics, which show 65.3% of patients nationally were seen within 18 weeks over the past year, as the waiting list fell by over 312,000 last year, the largest year-on-year reduction in 16 years.
This is a significant milestone in the drive to tackle the elective backlog built up in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Michael Gregory, Regional Medical Director for NHS England in the North West, said:
“These figures are testament to the extraordinary effort of NHS staff right across the North West. Every number in these statistics represents a real person who has had their operation, received their test result, or been seen by a specialist. That matters enormously.
“We have made real progress, but we are under no illusions that there is still more to do. The innovation we are seeing at places like the Trafford Elective Surgical Hub, and the commitment we are seeing from trusts like East Lancashire Hospitals, gives me genuine confidence that we are moving in the right direction.”
Across the North West, NHS providers have contributed substantially to that national picture, with hospitals and surgical hubs in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside, and Lancashire and South Cumbria all reporting improvements in waiting list size and patient flow.
In Cheshire and Merseyside, North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are cutting waiting lists through targeted investment and redesign of services.
At Halton Hospital in Runcorn, North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust has invested in its elective and diagnostic capacity, including £9.2m of Targeted Investment Funding. The funding is increasing theatre capacity, opening a day case unit, supporting the Cheshire and Merseyside Endoscopy Hub and completing the final phase of the community diagnostic centre (CDC) which opened last July.
In September 2025, the Trust opened a Gynaecology One Stop Clinic, offering assessment, diagnosis and where appropriate treatment in a single visit for patients with symptoms that could indicate endometrial cancer. More than 600 patients have been seen since launch, with consistently positive feedback.
This week also marks WWL’s Hub Optimisation Week at its two surgical hubs. The week will enable teams to test new processes to help maximise the number of patients being seen, as well as showcasing new surgical approaches and techniques. The two teams are aiming to see another 55 patients across both Surgical Hubs, 15% above the average, by preparing all stages thoroughly in advance and increasing staffing on the day to ensure everything runs smoothly.
In Cheshire and Merseyside cancer waiting times have hit three important targets, including the Faster Diagnosis Standard, the 62-day wait and 31-day wait. At the heart of the achievement is the Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance which brings together organisations, patients and others affected by cancer to drive improvements in clinical outcomes and patients’ experience of the care and treatment they receive.
Find out more about what’s happening across the North West here.