Surgeons: failure to tackle delayed discharges will make meeting the 18-week target ‘feel like wading through quicksand’

• An average of 14,087 beds were taken up by patients who were medically fit for discharge each day last week, the highest so far this winter.
• Only 58.9% of patients were seen within 18 weeks in December 2024.
• The waiting list for planned hospital treatment in England now stands at 7.5 million.
• With some patients on multiple pathways, NHS England estimates the number of individuals waiting is around 6.2 million.   
• There were 200,375 patient pathways waiting over 52 weeks for treatment.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is urging the government to do more to help NHS trusts address delays to hospital discharges which have a knock-on effect for planned surgery. 

Delayed discharges significantly impact efforts to reduce waiting lists. When patients who are medically fit for discharge remain in hospital beds, it creates a bottleneck that prevents new patients from being admitted for their surgical procedures and operations. Additionally, prolonged hospital stays can result in higher risks of infections and other complications for patients. The latest urgent and emergency care situation report published by NHS England suggests hospitals are still struggling to discharge medically fit patients, likely due to inadequate social care support. 

Today’s figures show how NHS performance fared during the peak of winter pressures. A surge in demand for urgent and emergency care, coupled with delayed discharges, could further delay progress towards the government’s interim target of 65% of patients being seen within 18 weeks by March 2026. NHS trusts have also been asked to reduce the proportion of people waiting over 52 weeks for treatment to less than 1% of the total waiting list by March 2026.

Commenting on today’s figures and the impact of delayed discharges on efforts to reduce the waiting list, Professor Peter Friend, Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said:

“The pressures on hospitals at this time of year are immense. They need urgent support to address delayed discharges. Patients are stuck in hospital beds for days on end, with staff wading through the quicksand of a disjointed and underfunded system, that only adds more strain to our already overburdened healthcare services.  
 
“The government has promised to address the long-term funding of social care, but with no solid commitments due before 2028, this lag will continue to hamper our ability to move patients through the system effectively and reduce waiting times. 

“To meet waiting time targets, the government must do everything it can to address discharge delays - sooner rather than later. Without decisive action now, we risk sinking further into a crisis that leaves both patients and staff struggling to find solid ground.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:
1. NHS England’s latest consultant-led referral-to-treatment waiting times data is available here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/rtt-data-2024-25/#Dec24. The total waiting list stood at 7,463,403 in December 2024. 
2. The latest urgent and emergency care situation report published by NHS England is available here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/uec-sitrep/urgent-and-emergency-care-daily-situation-reports-2024-25/.
3. Delayed discharges Monday 3 February 2025 to Sunday 9 February 2025:
Number of patients remaining in hospital who no longer meet the criteria to reside:

4. The Royal College of Surgeons of England provides world-class education, assessment, and development to 30,000 surgeons, dental professionals, and members of the wider surgical and dental care teams at all stages of their careers. Our vision is to see excellent surgical care for everyone. We do this by setting professional standards, facilitating research, and championing the best outcomes for patients.
5. For more information, please contact the press office: telephone: 020 7869 6053/6054/6047; email: pressoffice@rcseng.ac.uk; out-of-hours media enquiries: 0207 869 6056.