UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is actively campaigning to tackle the ongoing challenges facing the National Health Service (NHS), particularly long waiting lists and low patient satisfaction.

This 92% treatment target has not been met since early 2016, highlighting the urgency of the situation.

As part of his campaign, Starmer's Labour Party has unveiled an ambitious plan aimed at meeting NHS treatment standards within a four-year timeframe.

A key component of Starmer's strategy is to achieve the NHS's constitution mandate that 92% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral by March 2029, with an interim goal of increasing this percentage by six points by March 2026.

The decline in meeting this target can be traced back to the previous Conservative government's tenure, where the percentage of patients treated within the 18-week timeframe steadily decreased, culminating in a dismal 59% as of October 2024, exacerbated by the pandemic.