The NHS faced the “busiest summer in its history” as the UK experienced a series of heatwaves, health officials have said, while the waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has risen to its highest level for nine months.
The health secretary said “extreme demand” on the service was “no longer confined to winter” and NHS leaders warned that the service had “never gone into winter on the back of such a heavy summer”.
Figures show A&E attendances in June, July and August reached nearly 7.3m, the highest ever over a summer period, according to NHS England. This is almost 1m higher than the equivalent period in 2022 when 6.4m attendances were recorded over the summer months.
Ambulances also dealt with a record number of callouts – about 2.4m – between June and August, NHS England said.
An estimated 7.33m treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of July, relating to 6.21 million patients, according to NHS figures – up from 7.27m treatments and 6.15 million patients at the end of June.
The numbers are the highest since October 2025, when the list stood at 7.40m treatments and 6.24 million patients.
Long waits for NHS hospital treatment in England have also increased. An estimated 111,379 people had been waiting more than a year to start routine treatment at the end of July, up from 105,711 at the end of June.
An estimated 65.4% of patients in July began hospital treatment within 18 weeks of referral, down from 65.8% in June but above the target of 65% that the government and NHS England set for March of this year.
Labour previously pledged that by July 2029, 92% of patients would be seen within 18 weeks for routine hospital treatment such as hip and knee replacements. But leading surgeons have said it is unlikely the target will be met.
Prof Frank Smith, the senior vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “Our analysis shows that, if the pace of improvement seen over the last two years continues, no region in England will restore the 18-week standard by 2029.”
The NHS England figures show that an average of 2,973 patients in England received corridor care each day in August, with 2,296 in A&E departments and 677 in other hospital areas.
Commenting on the summer pressures facing the health service, Sarah Woolnough, the chief executive of the King’s Fund thinktank, said: “The NHS is now facing a twin crisis with summer joining winter as a major pressure on services and leaving little room for staff and the system to recover between peak periods. Extreme heat is now an NHS pressure point, not just a weather story.
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“If ministers want to protect patients, staff and performance, they need to treat climate resilience and delivering a radical shift to prevention as core health policy.’
Dr Vicky Price, the president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “Behind the national figures are teams describing relentless pressure, a lack of meaningful solutions and morale at a low ebb. Staff continue to work tirelessly, but goodwill cannot compensate indefinitely for structural problems that remain unresolved.”
The health secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “This has been the most demanding summer on record for our A&E and ambulance staff, with heavy pressure on our NHS and winter still to come. I want to pay tribute to the incredible dedication of NHS staff.
“Despite unprecedented demand, they managed to see a record number of patients within four hours in A&E over the summer. With the support of this government, the NHS has worked hard to strengthen its ability to respond to these challenges, but the reality is that extreme demand is no longer confined to winter.
“That’s why we’re backing the NHS with record investment and rolling out plans to support services through both summer and winter pressure.”
