The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital: all the key numbers for the NHS Trust in July

A general view of staff on a NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in London. Picture date: Wednesday January 18, 2023.A general view of staff on a NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in London. Picture date: Wednesday January 18, 2023.
A general view of staff on a NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in London. Picture date: Wednesday January 18, 2023.
More than 15,000 patients were waiting for routine treatment at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in July, figures show.

More than 15,000 patients were waiting for routine treatment at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in July, figures show.

The shadow health secretary has branded the Prime Minister "inaction man" over rising waiting lists.

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NHS England figures show 16,152 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust at the end of July – up from 15,694 in June, and 10,973 in July 2022.

Of those, 322 (2%) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital was 16 weeks at the end of July – the same as in June.

Nationally, 7.7 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of July.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said patients were waiting an "unacceptably long" time.

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He added: "On the NHS, Rishi Sunak is Inaction Man, refusing to meet with doctors to end NHS strikes and adding to the Conservatives’ NHS backlog, leaving patients waiting for months on end in pain and agony."

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

At the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, 1,451 patients were waiting for one of three standard tests, such as an MRI scan or non-obstetric ultrasound at this time.

Of them, three had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures from NHS England show that of three patients urgently referred by the NHS who were treated at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in July, two were receiving cancer treatment within two months of their referral.

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A month previously – when seven patients were referred – four were treated within 62 days.

In July 2022, 3 patients were treated within this period, out of 8 that were referred.

Professor Pat Price, of the CatchUpWithCancer campaign, said the cancer figures show "we are still massively short in hitting the Government’s target of no more than 85% of cancer patients waiting more than 62 days between urgent GP referral and their first treatment."

"Today’s figures reveal that nearly 40% of cancer patients are missing their life-saving cancer treatment: this is over double the Government’s own target," she added.

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The Prime Minister told the BBC on Thursday ongoing strikes by NHS staff were threatening his target of cutting waiting lists in 2023, acknowledging his promise could be missed.

Professor Julian Redhead, NHS England’s national clinical director for urgent and emergency care echoed Mr Sunak's comments on the impact of industrial action.

He said: “Today’s figures show that despite ongoing pressures across the NHS, including record demand for emergency care this summer, and an increase in Covid cases during July and August, NHS staff are continuing to deliver for patients."