Tens of thousands of patients were waiting for routine treatment at Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust in December

A health think tank said while the overall waiting list appears to be stabilising, “the Prime Minister’s pledge to bring the waiting list down will not be met”.

NHS England figures show 52,565 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Sherwood forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at the end of December – down slightly from 52,714 in November, but an increase on 47,223 in December 2022.

Of those, 1,933 (four per cent) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust was 14 weeks at the end of December – up from 13 weeks in November.

Charlotte Ainger, associate director of Operations and Planned Care, Sherwood Forest Hospitals, said: “We understand the impact that waiting for hospital appointments can have on patients and their families and are continuously working to reduce the length of time people are waiting for diagnostic tests and treatment.“

“Our hard-working staff continued to prioritise cancer and urgent treatments, whilst also ensuring our sites remained safe during a six-day period of industrial action in January 2024 and three days of action in December 2023.”

“Demand for our services remains high.

“I would like to thank patients for their understanding while we continue to work hard to reduce waiting lists. If you think you may have cancer please do not hesitate to see your GP urgently.”

Sherwood Forest Hospitals have introduced several initiatives to help reduce waiting times to improve the experience for patients, including the introduction of a new Teledermatology service, which enables a rapid diagnostic pathway for the early detection of skin cancer, patients will be reassured quickly if they do not have a cancer diagnosis or begin treatment faster where required; an additional operating theatre located at Newark Hospital will create additional surgical capacity (for elective care) to reduce waiting times for patients from across Newark, Sherwood, Ashfield and Mansfield, as well as some areas further afield including parts of Lincolnshire and the introduction of our new Community Diagnostic Centre which is already offering hundreds of additional health checks to local residents each week.

At Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust, 9,376 patients were waiting for one of 12 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 4,055 (43 per cent) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures from NHS England show that 57 out of 99 cancer patients urgently referred to Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust in December received treatment within two months of their referral.

A month previously – when 118 patients were referred – 77 were treated within 62 days.

In December 2022, 77 out of 110 patients were treated within this period.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s top five priorities and, despite winter pressures and the impact of industrial action, overall NHS waiting lists have decreased for the third month in a row.”