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NHS waiting lists: Midlands hospitals have more than 1.2 million patients due treatment

More NHS patients waiting for treatment in the Midlands than anywhere else in England - with all Birmingham Trust underperforming

Record NHS figures show that a staggering 1.2 million patients are now waiting for hospital treatment in the Midlands - the highest amount of anywhere in England.

Of these 41% - that’s nearly 500,000 patients - have been waiting for longer than 18 weeks. The target is for 92% of patients to be seen within 18 weeks, but hospitals in the Midlands Commissioning region have only achieved this wait time for 59% of patients.

The figures released yesterday (Thursday, May 12) show that the Midlands Commissioning Region - which covers 31 trusts across the east and west Midlands - is the second worst performer for the number of NHS patients being seen within NHS target times.

The average wait time for Midlands patients is 14.1 weeks - the second longest in England. Alarmingly there are 86,373 patients in the region who have been waiting for more than a year for treatment.

None of the hospital trusts in Birmingham are meeting the target, with one being among the worst performers. You can see the ranking for each of five Birmingham NHS trusts below.

The service with the biggest waiting list in the Midlands is the Trauma and Orthopaedic Service, which has more than 150,000 people waiting for procedures such as hip and knee replacements.

The North West Commissioning region is ranked bottom of the tables with 58% of patients treated within 18 weeks. The average wait time for hospitals there is 14.3 weeks and the number of patients waiting for longer than a year is 50,119.

The best performing region is the North East and Yorkshire where 70% of patients are treated within 18 weeks. The average wait time is 9.7 weeks. But there are 25,190 patients who have been waiting longer than a year for treatment.

Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England, said hospital teams were making good progress in tackling the backlogs, with record numbers of diagnostic tests and cancer checks taking place in March, as part of what he described as “the most ambitious catch up plan in NHS history”.

He said: “We always knew the waiting list would initially continue to grow as more people come forward for care who may have held off during the pandemic, but today’s data show the number of people waiting more than two years has fallen for the second month in a row, and the number waiting more than 18 months has gone down for the first time.

“There is no doubt the NHS still faces pressures, and the latest figures are another reminder of the crucial importance of community and social care, in helping people in hospital leave when they are fit to do so, not just because it is better for them but because it helps free up precious NHS bed space.”

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