NHS waiting lists rose for the first time this year as A&E departments dealt with their busiest month on record in May.
Health chiefs said hospitals are still busier than ever.
The data shows treatment waiting lists increased from 7.54 million in March to 7.57 million in April – the first time the total has increased since September.
It comes just days after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted the backlog was easing.
And emergency departments saw a record number of patients in May, with 2.4 million visitors.
The NHS is preparing for another strike by junior doctors in just two weeks’ time, on 27 June.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “Demand for NHS services across the country remains high.
“May was a record month for urgent and emergency services, while staff carried out a record number of elective appointments in April.
“The NHS is bracing for further disruption in the coming weeks, with junior doctors going on strike for five days at the end of June.”
NHS waiting lists have been a major talking point for political leaders in the run-up to July’s general election.
Sunak promised to resolve the figure by January 2023, when it stood at 7.21 million.
The list reached a record in September, with 7.77 million treatments and 6.50 million patients.
During an interview with Sky News on Wednesday, the Prime Minister admitted: “We haven’t made as much progress in reducing waiting lists as I would like.”
Daisy Cooper, health spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats, called on Mr Sunak “to apologize to the public for failing to reduce NHS waiting lists rather than shirk responsibility”.
“The fact that the Prime Minister was booed by the public over growing waiting lists last night shows how angry people are at his record of failure,” she added.
Sir Keir Starmer promised that one of the first steps of a Labor government would be to reduce waiting lists, creating 40,000 new appointments a week.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “This has poked a hole in Rishi Sunak’s claim that the NHS has turned a corner.
“He promised to reduce waiting lists, but today they are 350,000 longer than when he became prime minister.
“He can’t blame NHS staff – there were no strikes last month but waiting lists still grew. It’s solely the Conservatives’ fault.”
‘BIG REMINDER’
The figures also showed that 5,013 patients in England waited more than 18 months to start routine treatment at the end of April, up from 4,770 in March.
This is despite NHS England and the Government setting an ambition to eliminate all waits longer than 18 months by April 2023, excluding exceptionally complex cases or patients who choose to wait longer.
Some 50,397 patients were waiting more than 65 weeks to start treatment at the end of April, compared to 48,968 in March.
The target to eliminate all waits longer than 65 weeks is now September 2024, having previously been March 2024.
Patients in England who waited more than 52 weeks to start routine hospital treatment fell to 302,589 in April, down from 309,300 at the end of March.
The Government and NHS England have set an ambition to eliminate all waits of more than a year by March 2025.
Patricia Marquis, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said there will be “no place to hide for the next government” when it comes to reducing waiting lists.
“Excuses, vague promises and unambitious levels of investment will not provide patients with the care they need,” he added.
“Politicians who have their eye on number 10 need to wake up to this fact.”
Trust leaders and their teams are working hard to ensure no patient waits longer than necessary to receive care, but this is increasingly looking like an uphill battle
Saffron cordage
Tim Gardner, assistant director of policy at think tank the Health Foundation, said: “With both Labor and the Conservatives promising major improvements to NHS waiting times, today’s figures are a stark reminder of the scale of the challenge facing the next government. will face.”
He added that while there has been “some progress” in recent months, “there is still a huge mountain to climb.”
Professor Vivien Lees, vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, also warned that “the NHS will have no chance of reducing waiting times without significant additional investment”.
Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “Trust leaders and their teams are working hard to ensure no patient waits longer than necessary to receive care, but this is increasingly looking like an uphill battle.” .
She added that “trust leaders know they need to go further and faster for patients” and called on the next government to “work with the NHS to create a health service fit for the future”.
‘DISAPOINTING’
Rory Deighton, NHS Confederation acute network director, said: “It is disappointing to see that waiting lists have increased for the first time since October, despite the health service managing to increase productivity above pre-pandemic levels.
“But the increase in productivity is testament to the hard work and planning of NHS leaders and their teams, who have had to manage the pressure of growing demand and ongoing industrial action.”
This comes as junior doctors prepare for another strike in their long-running dispute with the government over pay.
They will be out from June 27th to July 2nd, just days before the General Election.
Elsewhere, figures showed that the number of people who waited more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England from the decision to admit until they were actually admitted was 42,555 in May, up slightly from 42,078 in April.
The number of people waiting at least four hours since the admission decision was made also increased, from 134,344 to 138,770.
Around 74.0 per cent of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&E last month, down from 74.4 per cent in April.
The NHS recovery plan set a target by March this year for 76 per cent of patients seen in emergency to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.
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