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NHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in England

The Guardian · · 1199 words · By Denis Campbell; Michael Goodier; Carmen Aguilar García
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/29/nhs-miss-targets-wait-times-perf…

fact_checkFact-Check Results

22 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 12
help Insufficient Evidence 7
verified Verified By Reference 3
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“The NHS is set to miss key targets to shorten waiting times for help at A&E, cancer care and planned hospital treatment, leaving millions of patients facing persistently long delays.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to support or refute the claim about NHS missing targets.
verified
“The health service in England will not deliver a series of milestone improvements in its performance that ministers demanded it achieve by the time the fiscal year ends on Tuesday, a Guardian analysis of the NHS’s most recent data has found.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries provide general NHS information but do not mention Guardian analysis or performance targets for fiscal year end.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The NHS Nightingale Hospital London was the first of the NHS Nightingale Hospitals, temporary hospitals set up by NHS England for the COVID-19 pandemic. It was housed in the ExCeL London convention c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHS_Nightingale_Hospital_Londo…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The National Health Service (NHS) is the collective term for the four separate publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health_Service
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded healthcare system in England, and one of the four National Health Service systems in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest single-payer …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health_Service_(Engla…
verified
“The lack of progress raises questions about pledges made last week by Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to get key waiting times back on track by the end of the parliament in 2029.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia only confirms Wes Streeting's role as health secretary, not specific pledges about 2029 waiting time targets.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Leanne Mohamad (born September 2000) is a British-Palestinian activist who stood as an independent candidate in the 2024 United Kingdom general election against Wes Streeting, the Labour Party incumbe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leanne_Mohamad
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Phoebe Plummer (born September 2001) is a British climate activist. Initially inspired by a United Nations report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, they joined Just Stop Oil in Augus…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebe_Plummer
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Wesley Paul William Streeting (; born 21 January 1983) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Mem…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Streeting
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“The NHS handed hospitals an extra £120m in recent weeks to fund a pre-deadline 'elective sprint' – of extra appointments and more operations – intended to bolster its chances of delivering the necessary improvements by 31 March.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries about NHS trusts and pension schemes do not mention the £120m 'elective sprint' allocation.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This list of NHS trusts in England provides details of current and former English NHS trusts, NHS foundation trusts, acute hospital trusts, ambulance trusts, mental health trusts, and the unique Isle …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NHS_trusts_in_England
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — NHS Pension Scheme (NHSPS) is the statutory, unfunded defined-benefit pension scheme for NHS staff in England and Wales, with accounting liabilities of about £457.2 billion as of 31 March 2025. The sc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHS_Pension_Scheme
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded healthcare system in England, and one of the four National Health Service systems in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest single-payer …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health_Service_(Engla…
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“Streeting has repeatedly promised to ensure that 92% of people waiting for non-urgent hospital care such as appointments and operations get it within 18 weeks by 2029. However, the NHS only saw 61.5% of patents within 18 weeks in January.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to support or refute the 18-week target data.
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“Only 52 of the service’s 150 trusts – one in three – managed the 65% performance target in January.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to support or refute trust performance target data.
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“70% of trusts did not meet the 5% improvement target compared to the previous year.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to support or refuteمهارات improvement target data.
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“The NHS achieved 74.1% of A&E patients treated within four hours in February, below the 78% target for 31 March.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to support or refute A&E treatment rates in February.
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“The NHS will miss the deadline to improve ambulance response times to an average of 30 minutes by the end of 2025-26.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to support or refute ambulance response time targets.
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“6 of 11 ambulance trusts met the 30-minute ambulance response time target in January.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to support or refute ambulance trust performance data.
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“The NHS is improving patient satisfaction with GP appointment availability.”
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“Meeting the government’s pledges to reduce NHS waiting times requires a herculean effort.”
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“Projections indicate Labour will not meet the pledge to achieve 92% of patients receiving elective hospital care by 2029.”
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“Wes Streeting pledged to achieve four-hour A&E care, cancer treatment within 31 or 62 days, and ambulance response times of eight or 18 minutes.”
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“Waiting lists fell by 374,000 since Labour took office in July 2024.”
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“Public satisfaction with the NHS rose to 26% in January 2025, the first increase since 2022.”
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“Labour inherited 6.3 million people on waiting lists, which decreased to 6.13 million by January 2025.”
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“Diagnostic waiting lists reached 1.8 million, the highest since the pandemic.”
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“The number of people waiting over 13 weeks for diagnostic tests increased to 139,652 in January 2025.”
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“The diagnostic waiting list is projected to reach 2 million by September 2026.”
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“Diagnostic waiting lists are still growing despite NHS trusts delivering large volumes of diagnostic tests.”
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“The NHS spokesperson stated the service is close to meeting the 18-week target for non-urgent care.”
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.