What’ s changing?

People can now claim for even more of named conditions once they are placed on the NHS waiting list for surgery, rather than waiting until the procedure has taken place. This covers a wide range of both full and additional payment conditions, including Crohn’ s Disease, less advanced cancer of the pancreas, cervix, bile ducts, gall bladder and lungs, and congenital heart disease. You can see a full list of conditions covered here https:// www. life. hsbc. co. uk / advisers / protection-advisers / latest-campaigns /

Why this enhancement matters

The median waiting time for the 6.23 million individual patients 1 on the NHS England waiting list in June 2025 to start treatment was 13.4 weeks but around 2.83 million of these patients have been waiting over 18 weeks for treatment, while roughly 192,000 people have been waiting over a year 2.

And these waiting times can affect people with serious conditions. As of late March 2025, there was a backlog of 14,512 people waiting over 62 days for cancer treatment. In June 2025, 67.1 % of cancer patients were treated within 62 days of referral – significantly below the NHS target of 85 % 2.

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