Labour paying NHS hospitals to remove patients from waiting lists

The Labour government – specifically Wes Streeting’s department – is paying NHS hospitals to remove patients from waiting lists.

🚨NEWS: Hospitals in England have been removing patients from waiting lists without treatment.

The government give £33 for every removed patient in a drive to show the NHS is ‘working under labour’

[@thetimes ]

— Basil the Great (@Basil_TGMD) August 18, 2025

“Record numbers of treatments” says Labour

The Times first reported that Labour is paying £33 per patient removed. This is part of a “drive to show the NHS is working”.

Only last month, the government and NHS England boasted that waiting lists had fallen by 260,000 since Labour was elected, due to delivering “record numbers of treatments”.

It has technically worked. Getting waiting lists down by removing patients doesn’t mean the patients will be treated. It’s another target-driven, box-ticking exercise. https://t.co/kKfRpKU0ZL

— Sarah Walker (@salowa87) August 18, 2025

So how many of these 260,000 people did hospitals actually provide treatment for? And how many did they simply bin so they could claim a pathetic £33?

When “Our Leader” tells us how he’s reduced the NHS waiting lists, this is how he’s doing it.
Labour is not fit to Govern and the NHS is deplorable for agreeing and accepting the money….our money! https://t.co/5eETaWvFzf

— Lee Migliorini (@lee_migliorini) August 18, 2025

Now, the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation have produced research which indicates these figures are misleading. The drastic fall in waiting lists was because of “unreported removals” – trusts removing patients without treatment.

Labour is faking nhs stats! https://t.co/GADZOhdVUf

— Ken Frost (@ken_frost) August 18, 2025

Fiddling the books

The NHS is still treating fewer patients than are joining waiting lists; in total, 6.23 million patients are waiting for treatment. One trust – Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, removed more than 5,000 patients, meaning they may have generated £165,000 in income.

The Times noted:

Morgan said moving patients off the waiting list after a “validation exercise” by finding those who no longer needed treatment — having gone private, left the country or died, for example — was “nothing unusual”, but added: “What’s unusual this year is trusts are being incentivised to remove patients from the waitlist.”

Surely fiddling the stats is a sackable offence?

@wesstreeting Fiddling the stats??? You should be sacked if this is correct. 👇👇👇 https://t.co/BpCqFklPR0

— Fletch (@Fletch948) August 18, 2025

It this just so they can say the waiting lists are down? What a surprise🤣 absolute shambles https://t.co/3IXrk5ad2R

— . (@_Jrh17) August 18, 2025

Meanwhile, doctors have been striking over pay disputes.

😂 so is this where the taxpayers money goes? You have a strike demanding more pay, yet spending money to remove patient from waiting list for political measure 🤦🏻‍♂️😂 https://t.co/GRbG5yxmqY

— Nutmeg (@notsoexciting) August 18, 2025

Too simple

Surely if Labour pays the doctors more, they would avoid the strikes, and in turn the doctors would be able to see more patients, and bam – waiting lists start to shorten.

It seems a little too simple for Mr Streeting, though.

And what, patients are just left to suffer, or worse, die?

“Hmmm I wonder how we reduce waiting lists…”

“…maybe we don’t treat them and they just…die?”

“Yay!” https://t.co/TosB3tCD8E

— charlotte (@BrigitteOhNo) August 18, 2025

I hope this isn’t why my sister has been waiting endless months to have a hole in her heart fixed, which has already caused numerous TIA’s. https://t.co/EGYM3r5IAN

— 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿LFCYNWA🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇨🇦 (@metal13YNWA) August 19, 2025

If Labour truly cared about the public, it would be tackling the root causes of the waiting lists. Lack of funding, staff shortages, and low pay would be the perfect places to start.

#saveourNHS

That’s the mantra from people who don’t understand, or just don’t care, that Labour are lying to the public, and gaslighting patients into believing that the NHS cares about them.

The NHS are removing patients without providing treatment… how is that ethical? https://t.co/vYKV3COWuh

— Garth Gibbins (@GarthGibbins) August 18, 2025

Labour has designed this ‘incentive’ to make it look like it’s taking control of waiting lists. But in reality? It will only lead to hospitals prioritising quick cash and making unnecessary mistakes.

At the end of the day, it’s putting patient lives on the line – all to look like it’s reducing waiting lists. Meanwhile, it strips chronically ill and disabled people of benefits – and claims the NHS has them covered. This could not be more alarming.

Feature image via the Canary