In England, approximately one in eight people are currently waiting for procedures or other sorts of care, and this number is increasing.
According to newly released NHS England data, 6.84 million people were on the waiting list at the end of July.
It is a record figure – before the outbreak, there were 4.2 million waiting for treatment.
There were minor gains in emergency care, as ambulance and A&E waiting times decreased.
However, both services are still far from reaching their objectives.
In August, nearly one-third of A&E patients waited longer than four hours, while ambulance personnel continued to struggle to respond to 999 calls within their goal times.
The latest data underscore the magnitude of the issue facing the new prime minister, Therese Coffey, and her health secretary, Liz Truss.
The government is due to publish a strategy for the health service next week. Ms. Truss has pledged to put the NHS on a “solid footing.”
As health care is devolved, only England will be covered.
Nigel Edwards, chief executive officer of the Nuffield Trust, a health think tank, remarked that the numbers demonstrate the “colossal issue” facing the administration. “The future prime minister will inherit a critically ill NHS,” he continued.
The data also contains information about two-year waits, which the government committed to abolishing by July’s end.
More than 22,000 people had been waiting for more than two years at the beginning of the year, and another 50,000 were close to reaching that threshold.
Nearly 2,900 people have been on the waiting list for more than two years, but NHS England has stated that the vast majority of these individuals chose to wait or have complex cases that require more time to evaluate.
Prof. Sir Stephen Powis, the medical director of NHS England, stated that it showed “substantial progress.”
