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

NHS England figures show 36,378 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust at the end of August – up from 35,404 in July, and 31,677 in Aug-21.

Of those, 754 (2%) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at the North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust was 14 weeks at the end of August – up from 13 weeks in July.

At the North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust, 7,685 patients were waiting for one of 12 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 1,468 (19%) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

A spokesperson for the trust said: “We know how difficult it is for patients when they are waiting for treatment and we are doing everything that we can to make sure that the time people need to wait is as short as possible.

“The numbers of patients who need elective care has continued to increase and this is in line with both expectations and the national picture.

“However, thanks to our continued efforts the waiting times for elective care has decreased with most people now waiting less than a year for treatment.

“We have successfully treated all patients who had been waiting more than 104 weeks and we are now working on ensuring no one is waiting more than 78 weeks. Currently there are around 30 people waiting more than 78 weeks.

"For context in January 2021 89 patients were waiting more than 104 weeks and 1,305 patients had waited more than 52 weeks.

“Since March 2021 the Trust has achieved a 65% reduction patients waiting more than 52 weeks for their treatment and by March 2023 we hope that no one on our waiting lists is waiting more than a year for treatment.”

 

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