Data Reporter Will Grimond on the latest stats from main NHS Trust serving Barnet

91,639 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at the Royal Free at the end of February- (Credit – Radar)

Almost 100,000 patients were waiting for routine treatment at the Royal Free London in February, figures show.

The figures come as a health think tank warns waiting lists will ‘continue to swell’ under pressures on the NHS.

NHS England figures show 91,639 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust at the end of February – up from 89,934 in January, but a decrease on 93,945 in February 2022. Of those, 2,970 (3%) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at the Royal Free London was 14 weeks at the end of February – the same as in January. Nationally, 7.2 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of February.

Saoirse Mallorie, senior analyst at The King’s Fund think tank, said: “In their elective recovery plan, Ministers set the NHS an ambitious target to eradicate 18-month waits for planned hospital care by April 2023.

“Today’s figures show that huge strides have been made towards that goal, bringing down the number of 18-month waits from 69,300 to 29,800 in a year.”

“However, patients are still facing unacceptably long waits and we can expect to see the overall waiting list, which currently stands at 7.2 million people, continue to swell as the NHS grapples with sustained pressures,” she added.

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

At the Royal Free London, 16,411 patients were waiting for one of 14 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time. Of them, 1,027 (6%) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “We are heading for extremely troubled times ahead in urgent and emergency care.”

“Overcrowding in emergency departments and acute medical units means many patients are still not receiving timely and high-quality patient care.”

“It reflects the day-to-day experience of teams delivering acute medical care in emergency departments, often in corridors and other unsuitable environments, rather than in appropriate wards,” he added.

Other figures show cancer patients at the Royal Free London are not being seen quickly enough.

The NHS states 85% of cancer patients urgently referred by a GP should start treatment within 62 days. But NHS England data shows just 44% of patients urgently referred by the NHS who received cancer treatment at the Royal Free London in February began treatment within two months of their referral. That was up from 39% in January, but down from 52% in February 2022 last year.

NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “The last few months have been demanding for the NHS as record numbers of patients have come forward for care on top of hugely disruptive strike action.”

He continued: “Today’s data shows demand on services is not relenting with A&E attendances and ambulance calls outs in March recorded at the highest level so far this year – even higher than a very busy January.”

He added there were positive signs for the NHS, particularly in reducing the longest waiting times.

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