Thousands of County Durham patients waiting for routine treatment

NHS England figures show 30,999 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust at the end of December – up from 23,018 the year before.

However, December's figure was down from 31,521 in November when the country was grappling with the Omicron Covid variant.

It meant 74 per cent of patients started treatment within the NHS’s target time of 18 weeks – slightly lower than last month, when 75 per cent of patients began treatment on time.

Officials blamed the Covid panedmic for the increase and said waiting list figures were now "reducing".

But Labour's Wes Streeting MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, accused the Tories of being "so incompetent they’ve come up with a plan that sees patients paying more in tax but waiting longer for care".

Across England, 6.07 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of December – up from 6 million in November, and the highest number since records began in August 2007.

Of them, 311,000 had been waiting longer than a year – 39 per cent more than in December 2020.

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Darlington Memorial Hospital Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT

Among those on the waiting list are people needing scans and tests, hip and knee operations, and cataract surgery.

But separate NHS figures show the County Durham and Darlington Trust breached its cancer waiting time target in December.

The NHS states 85 per cent of cancer patients urgently referred by a GP should start treatment within 62 days.

But at the trust, just 77 per cent of patients who received cancer treatment in December were seen within two months of an urgent referral.

However, it was up from 67 per cent in November, and up from 72 per cent the previous December.

Trusts must also tell at least 75 per cent of those urgently referred for a cancer check, whether they have the disease within 28 days.

The figures show the County Durham and Darlington Trust hit the target, with 87 per cent of patients being told the outcome on time in December.

Responding to the figures, a spokeswoman for the County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust said: “Covid-19 in general, and the Omicron variant most recently, has impacted on services across the NHS. 

“Over the winter months we have maintained both our outpatient and surgical services and our waiting list figures are now reducing.  The majority of these are for an outpatient appointment with only around 20 per cent waiting for a surgical procedure. “

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Health Secretary Sajid Javid has set out plans to help the NHS recover from Covid-19, as the number of people on waiting lists reached record levels nationally – but he has said they will continue to rise for another two years.

The Government and NHS England have set an ambition of eliminating all waits of more than a year by March 2025.

Measures announced by the Government to tackle issues within the health service, include prioritising diagnosis and treatment, increasing activity through dedicated surgical hubs, and hiring 15,000 more care workers by the end of March.

NHS national medical director Professor Stephen Powis said: “While pressures remain for our staff, with the highest number of life-threatening ambulance callouts and 111 calls for the month of January, NHS staff are committed to bringing down the backlog, and the clear plan published this week will help increase the number of checks, tests and treatment provided for patients.”

Measures announced by the Government to tackle issues within the health service, include prioritising diagnosis and treatment. Picture: PA (Image: PA)

But Labour criticised the current Conservative Government cuts for the NHS backlog.

Mr Streeting said: “Record numbers of people are waiting for care and they are waiting longer than ever before, often in pain and distress.

“After a decade of Tory mismanagement, the NHS went into the pandemic with record waiting lists and staff shortages of 100,000. It’s not just that the Tories didn’t fix the roof when the sun was shining, they dismantled the roof and removed the floorboards.

“The Conservatives are so incompetent they’ve come up with a plan that sees patients paying more in tax but waiting longer for care. 

“The longer we give the Conservatives, the longer patients will wait.

“The last Labour government reduced waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks. The next Labour government will secure the future of our NHS, providing the staff it needs to treat patients on time.”

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