'One in seven patients' wait longer than six months for operations The Coalition has come under pressure over the NHS's performance as a series of statistics have shown waiting times have crept up as targets have been relaxed. David Cameron scrapped Labour's target of 18 weeks between a GP referral and hospital admission, but the Prime Minister pledged to keep waiting times low. Last week, official figures showed the number of people waiting longer than 18 weeks had increased by a quarter since the Coalition came to power, while the Patients Association warned of a rise in average waits for common operations such as knee replacement, hernia repair and removal of gallstones Now the Care Quality Commission inpatient survey has found the number of patients reporting that they had waited more than six months to be admitted increased from 12 per cent in 2010 to 14 per cent in 2011. A quarter of those who responded to the survey felt they should have been admitted sooner. The survey is conducted every year in hospitals in England with around 70,000 patients responding annually. Patients reported seeing doctors and nurses washing their hands more often, and fewer patients were made to stay in mixed sex accommodation. But the survey found the number of patients who said there was not always enough nurses on duty had increased, up from 40 per cent to 42 per cent. And there was an increase in patients who need help eating but do not receive it, from 36 per cent in 2010 to 38 per cent. Katherine Murphy, Chief Executive of the Patients Association said: "We are encouraged by the small improvements being made in cleanliness and mixed sex accommodation. But they do not excuse the fact that patients are reporting that they are waiting longer to be treated and are not being given the help and support they need from ward staff. How can the Department of Health continue to claim that waiting times are stable when thousands of patients are saying they are waiting for longer to be seen? It's not enough just to attack every report or survey that disagrees with you as inaccurate. The Department needs to be open, transparent, and respond to critical reports with robust action to tackle the problems. Dr Penny Woods, Chief Executive of Picker Institute Europe, said: "Patients appreciate the care they get from NHS staff, but our survey shows that they are not always able to get the individual attention that they need. The reality is that the number of patients in NHS hospitals is increasing whilst the number of nurses available to care for them falling. "Fewer nurses are being asked to take on more work, and the inpatient survey shows how this impacts on patients" experiences." Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: "This survey shows that patients are starting to pay the price for the Government's mismanagement of the health service. Standards are clearly slipping backwards and the NHS is heading in the wrong direction. Department of Health official figures showed that 97 per cent of patients had waited less than 26 weeks for treatment from the point of referral in February this year. Health Minister Simon Burns said: "It is disappointing that more patients felt that they had waited more than six months for admission. In fact latest figures show there are fewer patients than ever waiting a long time for treatment in the NHS. The NHS is keeping average waiting times low and stable at just 8.7 weeks for in-patients in February 2012. The number of people waiting over a year for treatment has reduced by two thirds since May 2010 and the average time patients have to wait for treatment is at the same level as two years ago.