Milton Keynes University Hospital sees waiting lists drop 1,075 since the general election, as England sees the second biggest drop in waiting list in 15 years

Emily Darlington, MP for Milton Keynes Central, today thanked NHS staff at Milton Keynes University Hospital for their hard work in continuing to get waiting lists down, as the Labour government marked a year since the publication of its Elective Reform Plan designed to cut waits.

Across England, the NHS saw waiting lists fall by more than 86,000 in November, as new data today shows staff faced record demand in 2025. The progress came despite the NHS’s busiest ever year, with 27.8 million A&E attendances in 2025 – over 367,000 up on 2024, with 2.33 million attendances in December alone.

In the year since the Elective Reform Plan was launched, Labour have brought in record investment and real modernisation to cut waiting lists – including creating more evening and weekend clinics, new and expanded community diagnostic centres and surgical hubs, crack teams of experts being sent to 20 hospital trusts across England with the highest levels of economic inactivity, and cutting unnecessary appointments by sending patients “straight to test” rather than multiple clinic visits.

Emily Darlington warned that winter pressures continue to persist as hospitals battle the flu, and urged anyone eligible in Milton Keynes that it’s not too late to take up the flu vaccine to protect themselves and others.

“NHS staff in MK have worked incredibly hard to shrink down the waiting list while seeing a record surge in patients last year”, said Darlington. “Thanks to this Labour government’s Elective Reform Plan, our record investment and modernisation, hundreds more patients got a faster diagnosis in Milton Keynes and received quicker treatment or the all-clear over the last 12 months. This is despite services facing consistently high levels of pressure and experiencing another record year for A&E and ambulances. It will be a long road, but Labour is fixing our health service and making it fit for the future and beyond.”