99,620 patients were waiting for treatment at the main NHS Trust serving Barnet at the end of October reports Will Grimond, Data Reporter

Medical staff consulting a screen at the end of a hospital corridor — 1.6 million patients in England were waiting for a key diagnostic test in October – the same as in September – (Credit – Radar)

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

A health think tank warns the NHS is under “severe strain” despite some progress in reducing the national backlog.

NHS England figures show 99,620 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust at the end of October – down slightly from 100,615 in September, but an increase on 91,315 in October 2022.

Of those, 4,851 (5%) 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 15 weeks at the end of October – the same as in September.

Nationally, 7.7 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of October.

Nuffield Trust Fellow Jessica Morris said: “The slight fall in the number of people waiting for routine NHS treatment is welcome progress. NHS staff got record numbers of patients starting treatment in October, which will have helped finally start to reverse month on month growth of the waiting list.

“While this is good news, it is hard to look past the huge waiting list that remains in place. This drop is only a small fraction (54,000 people), with over 6.4 million people still waiting.”

“Overall, the elective waiting list is 370,000 people higher than it was when the prime minister made his pledge to cut long waits at the beginning of the year,” she added.

“The reality is that it will take time and a lot of hard work to sustain this momentum, particularly during the difficult winter months to come.”

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

At the Royal Free London, 17,542 patients were waiting for one of 14 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 1,423 (8%) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

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

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

But NHS England data shows just 51% of cancer patients urgently referred to the Royal Free London in October began treatment within two months of their referral.

That was down from both 54% in September, and 64% in October 2022.

Professor Pat Price, co-founder of the #CatchUpWithCancer campaign, said: “Despite the recent changes to cancer waiting times and focus on diagnosis, we are in a devastating cancer care rut.”

The organisation is urging the health secretary to perform a “handbrake turn” on cancer.

“That means a dedicated radical new cancer plan, with a focus on tackling treatment delays and a monumental effort to get investment to frontline services,” Professor Price added.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended his Government’s record on healthcare on Thursday.

He said: “We’ve made progress first and foremost on the longest waiters.

“We’ve practically eliminated the number of people waiting one-and-a-half years earlier this year, to people waiting two years last year, and we were making good progress tackling the backlog.”

He expressed disappointment at threats of further industrial action from junior doctors.

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