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Surgeons are warning that progress in reducing NHS waiting times is stalling before winter as the latest figures show no improvement on the size of the overall waiting list in September. The waiting list stood at 7.4 million. For six months now, the number of patients waiting over a year has gone up, with the total now at 116,353. There was a small improvement in the number of patients waiting less than 18 weeks to start treatment, rising from 65.2% to 65.8% in August. This leaves the NHS well below the 92% standard it is committed to restoring by March 2029.

Professor Martyn Cobourne, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) at the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England), is urging people to think carefully about the sweets they hand out this Halloween: “My advice is simple: please think about alternatives to sticky sweets and lollipops for trick-or-treaters. Halloween should be fun, not a cause of future dental problems. While sugary treats are often part of the celebrations, there are simple ways to reduce the impact on children’s teeth."

Responding to the launch of a government consultation on new restrictions on high-risk cosmetic procedures, Keith Allison, cosmetic surgery co-lead at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “This consultation is long overdue. For too long, patients have been exposed to unnecessary risk in a fast-growing cosmetic procedures market where too many unscrupulous practitioners have been free to practise with little oversight."