Can the next government cut waiting times?

NHS waiting times are a central issue of the 2024 election campaign. Proposed solutions – more money, more staff, more use of the independent sector and strengthening patient choice – are mostly shared between the two main parties. More money, more choice and more private sector provision helped reduce median waiting times (under old measures) from 12 weeks to 5 weeks in the decade following the 1997 election. This long read analyses the data to assess whether this is possible again.