Five Yorkshire NHS trusts benefit from 'Formula One'-style surgeries to cut waiting lists
Five NHS trusts in Yorkshire and the Humber have had their waiting lists cut at a faster rate than the national average by specially-deployed teams of doctors.
Senior medics were drafted into 20 trusts in England by Health Secretary Wes Streeting last year, to try and get patients treated faster in areas with the biggest numbers of people out of work due to ill health.
In Yorkshire and the Humber, this included NHS trusts in Sheffield, Hull, Goole, Doncaster and Rotherham.
Now the Government has reported back on the project, saying that waiting lists in the targeted areas have fallen three times faster than the national average.
The Department of Health and Social Care said that learning from the project – such as “Formula 1 style surgery,” where surgical theatres operate continuously to bring down waiting lists and streamlining patient experience by cutting out unnecessary appointments – would be taken to the rest of the NHS.
The waiting list reduction is still fairly meagre, with a 4.2 per cent cut across the 20 trusts as opposed to 1.4 per cent nationally.
However, the Government was boosted yesterday by the news that waiting lists across England had fallen to their lowest level since 2023.
Data from NHS England shows an estimated 7.31m planned treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of November 2025, relating to 6.17m patients.
This is down from 7.40m treatments and 6.24m patients at the end of October. The waiting list is at its lowest level since February 2023, when the figure was 7.22m.
The list hit a record high in September 2023 when the Conservatives were in power, with 7.77m treatments and 6.50m patients.
Sir Keir Starmer said: “Every name stuck on a waiting list is a life on hold while someone waits for the treatment they need.
“That means being trapped in limbo for weeks or months – leaving people to face constant health worries, missed time with family and friends, or falling out of work.
“That’s unacceptable – and after a decade of decline we’re delivering the investment and reform that our NHS desperately needs to get it back on its feet and provide the care people expect.
“Everyone should benefit from the incredible innovation and expertise within our health service – not just those who won the postcode lottery.
“That’s why this government has sent in top quality teams to the places most in need, helping slash waiting lists in these hospitals three times faster than the national average.
“There’s a long way to go but this is further proof that our plan to rebuild the NHS is working.”
The Prime Minister however had worse news when it came to other parts of the NHS, with 12-hour waits for people to be admitted to a hospital bed hitting a record high as the health service grappled with winter pressures including flu and vomiting bugs.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey claimed that this showed 2025 was the worst since records began for trolley waits.
“It’s now confirmed in black and white - 2025 confirmed as the worst level of corridor care in NHS history, with over half a million people suffering degrading trolley waits in the last year alone,” he said.
“This deadly crisis is not what we expect from our NHS, and it’s not what we pay our hard-earned money in taxes to fund our NHS for.”