Stop Waiting

15/01/2026

Interesting story.. Labour says a new NHS programme is cutting waiting lists up to five times faster in areas with high unemployment, by sending in specialist “crack teams” to clear backlogs.

The scheme uses “Formula 1-style” high-flow surgery, longer opening hours and smarter use of technology to treat patients faster and help more working-age people return to work.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting says waiting lists are down by 225,000 since July 2024, with the biggest improvements in 20 targeted areas – mainly in the North.

Labour is putting the jobless first in a drive to cut NHS waiting lists. In a move to get more people back to work, health officials said a new programme was clearing backlogs three times faster in areas of high unemployment. They said “crack teams” of medics have been sent into the 20 parts of ...

23/12/2025

🎄✨ Season’s Greetings from all of us at StopWaiting ✨🎄

As the year draws to a close, we’d like to wish all our patients, friends, and colleagues a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.

Thank you for the trust you’ve placed in us, the conversations we’ve shared, and the progress we’ve helped make together throughout the year. It’s a privilege to support people in navigating their healthcare options, and we’re grateful to everyone who has been part of our journey in 2025.

We look forward to continuing to support you in the year ahead. Until then, we hope you enjoy a peaceful festive period filled with warmth, rest, and time with those who matter most. 🎁💙

—
The StopWaiting Team
🌐 stopwaiting.co.uk

12/12/2025

⭐ Feedback Friday — and this one says it all. ⭐

“After being told I’d have to wait 75 weeks for knee surgery, Stop Waiting stepped in.
Thanks to their help, I had my operation today — just 7 weeks after referral.
The care was absolutely fantastic.”

Stories like this are exactly why we do what we do.
When you know your rights and get the right support, your wait can be dramatically shorter.

If you’re stuck on a long NHS waiting list, you don’t have to just sit and hope.
👉 Let us help you explore your Patient Choice options and get moving sooner: www.stopwaiting.co.uk

Share your story with us — you could be our next Feedback Friday success!

Get your NHS treatment in weeks - not years.We help you use your NHS 'right to choose' to find hospitals (even NHS-partnered private ones) with the shortest waiting times, within your

12/12/2025

It’s finally hit the headlines — but this has been secretly building for months.

Hospitals have been quietly instructed to increase waiting times through the introduction of “minimum waits.”
In plain English: you could be treated sooner, but NHS England is telling providers to make you wait longer.

It’s being framed as a cost-cutting measure, but the reality is stark:
those operations will still have to happen eventually — and they’ll cost the same, if not more. Meanwhile, patients are left to deteriorate.

For people waiting for elective care like hip or knee replacements, longer delays can mean:
• worsening pain and reduced mobility
• higher risk of trips and falls leading to A&E visits
• weight gain that can push patients over BMI thresholds for surgery
• more GP appointments, painkillers, injections and MSK referrals
All of this increases pressure and costs on the NHS — and significantly impacts quality of life.

This is not a small issue. This is a growing crisis for patients.

⏰ For anyone waiting— the time to act is NOW.
We genuinely cannot stress this enough.

By using your rights under NHS Patient Choice, you are able to access faster treatment at another hospital before waiting times are pushed even higher.

If you need help navigating your options, we’re here.

👉 www.stopwaiting.co.uk

Documents seen by BBC show hospitals being ordered to slow down on activity to help balance the books.

02/12/2025

Over-60s can get a bowl of soup, a bread roll and unlimited tea or coffee for just £1 at any Asda café until February 2026. Please spread the word. 💛

28/11/2025

NHS keeping you waiting?

Today’s Friday Feedback comes from Graham, who shared both a video and an incredibly generous Trustpilot review.

He’d been unable to get clear guidance on moving his wife’s hip-replacement referral through Patient Choice. After using our StopWaiting care plan and receiving rapid follow-up support, he finally had the information he needed to progress her referral confidently.

We’re grateful for the feedback, Graham — and proud to support patients and carers navigating NHS pathways.

www.stopwaiting.co.uk

28/11/2025

On an NHS waiting list?

Lots of people are confused about what’s happening with NHS waiting lists, so here’s the situation in simple terms:

Love them or hate them; Private hospitals have been helping the NHS a great deal over the years. In the last year alone, they provided almost 7 million NHS appointments and operations, providing much-needed capacity to a struggling system.

Now NHS England is telling private hospitals they must reduce the number of NHS patients they see.

They are also actively instructing private providers to increase the amount of time patients must wait before treatment. Read that again. The introduction of minimum waiting times, despite the private providers being in a position to treat them quicker.

This means the NHS is losing some of the help it relies on. With nearly 8 million on waiting lists, and the private sector dealing with around 7 million appointments a year - It's quite clear what's going to happen if support from the private sector is cut.

But here’s the important part:

You can still use private hospitals for your NHS care — and you do not have to pay.
These hospitals are part of the NHS system. They just have limited spaces, and you need to know where those spaces are.

StopWaiting helps you find those spaces.
We look for hospitals with shorter waiting times and explain exactly how you can be referred there by your GP.

We make the steps simple.
We write everything down for you.
And we help you understand your choices, so you don’t get stuck waiting longer than you need to.

👉 If you’d like to know where you could be seen sooner on the NHS, visit:

stopwaiting.co.uk

Are you facing a long wait for NHS treatment and prefer not to pay for private healthcare?We can help. Tired of Waiting for NHS Treatment? You're Not Alone.If you or a loved one is stuck on a

11/11/2025

We pause to remember the courage and sacrifice of those who served, whose resilience secured the freedoms we enjoy today. At StopWaiting, we honour their memory and the generations who continue to share their stories.

07/11/2025

What a fantastic Feedback Friday update! 🌟

Our patient’s knee surgery is now booked just 7 weeks after their consultation — thanks to choosing one of the faster NHS options we identified.

17/10/2025

Eight weeks can change everything. After the first consultant appointment, we helped line up the next steps and secure an op date—giving this family some much-needed peace of mind. Their thank-you message this week genuinely moved us, and we’re sharing it (anonymised) below to celebrate a hardworking team and a determined family👇


• Stuck on a waiting list and not sure what to do next?

Visit our website www.stopwaiting.co.uk to find out how we can help.

03/10/2025

🌟 🌟

This week’s story comes from Judy, who first came to us when she was facing almost a year’s wait for her eye procedure. From the moment she reached out, to walking out of her operation in a private clinic, it took just 4 weeks — fully funded by the NHS.

Since then, Judy has been one of our biggest champions, referring friends, family, and neighbours who are also struggling with long NHS waits. Her latest update below really made our week…

Thanks Judy! 🫶

26/09/2025

✨ Feedback Friday ✨

We’re always thrilled to hear how our guidance makes a difference. One of our recent cases kindly shared her experience after using our service to help with her referral.

Our team specialises in helping patients understand their NHS rights in order to get the treatment they need - in an average of 11 weeks (source IHPN Jan 2025) and find the right hospital for their specialty. Through our strategic partnerships, we can also support patients looking for low-cost treatment abroad within weeks.

If you’re struggling with long waits, unclear pathways or need guidance on what to do next, we can prepare personalised information packs to support your conversation with your GP and help you move forward with confidence.

If you or someone you know is in a similar situation, we’re here to help.