Record number of patients at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals Trust waiting for treatment

Health Secretary Sajid Javid warned that waiting lists across England will keep rising, despite the number of patients waiting for treatment reaching a new national record.

NHS England figures show 30,704 patients were waiting for elective operations or treatment at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at the end of June – up from 30,317 at the end of May.

This was also 23% more than a year previously, and the highest figure for the month of June since comparable records began in 2011.

The number of people on waiting lists across England has risen to 5.45 million – the highest total for any month since records began in August 2007.

Mr Javid said he thinks waiting lists will rise even further due to the “huge increase in demand”.

He said: “The NHS has rightly focused on Covid-19 in this horrible pandemic and that has meant, sadly, that waiting lists have risen.”

Around seven million people who might have needed care during the pandemic are estimated to have stayed away and as some of them come forward to the NHS, there will be further increases in waiting lists, he said.

At York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals Trust, 9,053 patients listed for routine treatment at the end of June had been waiting this long – ​29% of all those on the list.

This was down from 9,603 (-2,071,300%) waiting at least 18 weeks at the end of May.

There were also 1,488 patients waiting at least a year for treatment in the most recent month’s data.

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS England national medical director, said the health service is experiencing one of its busiest summers ever – dealing with record patient numbers, and delivering the biggest vaccine rollout in its history.

The Health Foundation said the latest data “highlights the difficult juggling act the NHS faces in meeting emergency pressures, restoring services and addressing the backlog of care while Covid-19 cases still remain high”.