Treatment times: tens of thousands of Wiganers waiting

The statistics were published as a health and social care think tank warned of a "continued backlog for care" in England.

NHS England figures show 50,630 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) centres at the end of January – down slightly from 50,841 in December, and 54,481 in January 2024.

Of those, 2,180 (four per cent) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral to treatment at WWL facilities was 16 weeks at the end of January – the same as in December.

Nationally, 6.3 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of January — up slightly from 6.2 million at the end of December.

But an estimated 7.4 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of January, which was down from 7.5 million at the end of last year.

Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, welcomed the drop but warned improvements must still be made.

She said that, although the figures highlight progress has been made on the number of treatments waiting to be carried out nationally, efforts are "dwarfed by the magnitude of the continued backlog for care".

As NHS leaders meet today to discuss funding, she said "it is crystal clear" the financial pressures faced by the NHS are linked to a higher demand for healthcare, a "poor or patchy" provision of social care, and a lack of funding in primary and community care.

Separate figures show 1.6 million patients in England were waiting for a key diagnostic test in January – the same as in December.

At WWL centres, 9,214 patients were waiting for one of 14 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 1,578 (17 per cent) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures show WWL cancer patients are not being seen quickly enough.

The NHS states 85 per cent of cancer patients with an urgent referral should start treatment within 62 days.

But NHS England data shows just 77 per cent of cancer patients urgently referred to WWL in January began treatment within two months of their referral.

That was down from 82 per cent in December, but up from 69 per cent in January 2024.

Prof Pat Price, leading oncologist and chair of Radiotherapy UK, said: "Today's cancer data shows that yet again we are going backwards, and the cancer crisis is only deepening.

"Cancer patients are still waiting too long, and stagnation at frighteningly bad waiting times cannot fall off the agenda."

She warned that, despite pressures on public funding, "the primary obligation must always be to deliver high-quality care".

"Cancer patients cannot afford further delays – cancer cannot be the collateral-timely treatment is the minimum they deserve," she added.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting welcomed the drop in the NHS waiting list, but warned "there is still a long way to go" to fully address waiting times.

He added: "By delivering the two million more appointments we promised before the election, ending the strikes, and reforming the NHS to drive up productivity, we are putting the NHS on the road to recovery.

"Through the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change, we will cut the longest waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks, so the NHS is there for you when you need it, once again."