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

NHS England figures show 34,363 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at NCIC the end of February – down from 36,850 in January, but an increase from 31,423 in February 2022.

Of those, 705 (2%) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at the Trust was 14 weeks at the end of February – down from 15 weeks in January.

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

At NCIC, 9,093 patients were waiting for one of 12 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Other figures from NHS England show that of 89 patients urgently referred by the NHS who were treated at NCIC in February, 50 were receiving cancer treatment within two months of their referral.

A month previously – when 87 patients were referred – 41 were treated within 62 days.

In response to these figures, a spokesperson for NCIC said: “The number of people waiting for planned operations/procedures in north Cumbria has continued to drop despite the ongoing pressures, especially for those who have waited the longest.

“In data published today for February 2023, it was reported we had 705 patients waiting over 52 weeks and three patients waiting over 78 weeks. Our target was to have zero patients waiting over 78 weeks by the end of March and we know that we have achieved that thanks to the ongoing determination of our staff.

“We will now continue to focus on reducing the number of people waiting over 52 weeks.

“The rising demand for diagnostic tests is continuing but, despite this, our waiting times are decreasing with particular progress for MRI and CT scanning.

“In Cancer services, we are pleased that our performance has improved again this month, particularly in the two week wait and 31 day pathways. However, we are not complacent, and our Cancer improvement plan work continues.

“We have had another busy month in our A&E departments with over 10,700 attendances across our sites.

“We continue to work with our partners to reduce the number of patients unable to be discharged because they are waiting for a care package to be put in place.

“If we can reduce this number then we hope to see our waiting times in A&E decrease as more beds become available in our hospitals for those who need acute care or treatment.

“This week the NHS has experienced one of the most disruptive rounds of industrial action it has ever faced with junior doctors taking industrial action for a 96-hour period.

“We would like to thank our teams for coping very well with the additional pressures this has brought and thank you to our local communities for their understanding during this time.”