Mersey and West Lancashire Hospitals Trust: all the key numbers for the NHS Trust in July

Tens of thousands of patients were waiting for routine treatment at Mersey and West Lancashire Hospitals Trust in July, figures show.

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

NHS England figures show 71,898 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust at the end of July – up from 51,794 in June, and 51,387 in July 2022 in the trust's two predecessors.

Of those, 2,326 (3%) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at Mersey and West Lancashire Hospitals Trust was 13 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.

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 Mersey and West Lancashire Hospitals Trust, 19,022 patients were waiting for one of 13 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 6,681 (35%) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures from NHS England show that of 192 patients urgently referred by the NHS who were treated at Mersey and West Lancashire Hospitals Trust in July, 139 were receiving cancer treatment within two months of their referral.

A month previously – when 85 patients were referred – 62 were treated within 62 days.

In July 2022, 123 patients were treated within this period, out of 167 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.

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."