New data shows a drop in the number of patients waiting for tests or treatment at Wigan's hospitals

NHS England statistics reveal 47,410 people were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) at the end of November.

That was down from 48,514 patients (2.3 per cent) waiting at the end of October.

Of those, 1,492 (3.1 per cent) had been waiting for longer than a year, compared to four per cent the month before.

Nationally, an estimated 7.31m planned treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of November 2025, relating to 6.17m patients – the lowest level since early 2023

The data also shows the number of people on waiting lists at WWL for one of 14 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy, fell by nearly 1,000 in November.

There were 13,278 people waiting, down 6.7 per cent from 14,234 people on the waiting lists in October.

Of those waiting in November, 4,061 (30.6 per cent) had been waiting for more than six weeks, while 731 (5.5 per cent) waited for more than 13 weeks.

This was an improvement for six-week waits, from 34.6 per cent the previous month, but the proportion of people waiting for more than 13 weeks had increased, from 4.5 per cent in October.

The data shows 5,325 patients (40.1 per cent) were waiting for a non-obstetric ultrasound in November, while 2,984 were in line for an MRI scan (22.5 per cent) and 2,166 (16.3 per cent) wanted an echocardiogram.

But among those in need of an echocardiogram, 46 per cent had been waiting for more than six weeks, while 44.2 per cent of patients on the list for a non-obstetric ultrasound had been waiting for that time.

WWL carried out 11,018 diagnostic tests in November on people on the waiting lists, as well as 1,042 planned tests and 3,467 unplanned tests.

Nationally, 1.7m people were waiting for tests at NHS hospitals, with 21.7 per cent waiting for more than six weeks.

WWL’s chief operating officer Sarah Brennan said: “WWL has been working tirelessly to reduce waiting times for both surgery and diagnostic tests and we are maximising every resource available to us in a bid to avoid patients waiting longer than needed.

“Our investment into additional theatres, particularly at our Wrightington Hospital site – one of only four sites in the Greater Manchester to hold surgical hub status – has improved productivity and increased our capacity to reduce waiting lists for orthopaedic surgery patients in particular.

"In addition, to reduce referral to treatment (RTT) times and offer an additional pathway to address health inequalities in ear, nose and throat and dental specialities throughout Greater Manchester, WWL re-introduced children’s services at Leigh Infirmary’s surgical hub in September 2025.

“We are also proud of our strong working relationships with other trusts across Greater Manchester and the North West to help bring down waiting times as a whole across the region.”