Tens of thousands of patients were waiting for routine treatment at the North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust in July, figures show.

NHS England figures show 35,404 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust at the end of July – up slightly from 35,291 in June, and 30,899 in July 2021.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at the North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust was 13 weeks at the end of July – the same as in June.

Nationally, 6.8 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of July – a new record.

Separate figures show 1.5 million patients in England were waiting for a key diagnostic test in July – a fall from 1.6 million in June.

At the North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust, 7,898 patients were waiting for one of 12 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

A spokesperson for the North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust said: ‘’ Our latest elective recovery position shows some positive progress although it is still challenging.  

‘’We continue to have zero patients waiting over 104 weeks for their care and we are now focusing on zero patients waiting over 78 weeks by March 2023 with a steady decrease planned for the rest of the year.’’

‘’In diagnostics, the total waiting list has been reduced by approximately 5,000 from its peak in October 2021, following around 18 months at double the pre-Covid volume.’’

‘’However, there are still challenges in diagnostics therefore we are pleased we were successful in receiving an additional £5.6m to help us deliver more CT, MRI, Ultrasound and Endoscopies in the year ahead.’’

The news comes ahead of the NHS’ new COVID booster vaccine rollout and a predicted challenging winter.

 

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