PATIENTS were waiting an average of 10 weeks for routine treatment at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay in February, figures show.

The King's Fund think tank said another national record for the number of people on hospital waiting lists shows the strain on the NHS is reaching “unacceptable levels”.

NHS England figures show the median waiting time for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at University Hospitals Of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust was 10 weeks at the end of February – down from 11 weeks in January.

This was also shorter than the average 13-week wait a year previously.

There were 25,680 patients on the waiting list in February – up from 25,263 in January, and 24,002 in February 2021.

Of those, 1,091 had been waiting for longer than one year.

Nationally, 6.2 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of February.

This is up from 6.1 million in January and the highest number since records began in August 2007.

But the figures also show that while the overall waiting list has continued to grow, the number of people waiting more than a year and two years have both fallen.

Danielle Jefferies, analyst at The King’s Fund, said the latest national figures show pressures are now reaching “unacceptable levels” in all parts of the health and care system.

She added: “A&E departments remain full of patients in need of urgent care, and separate data shows a similar story in general practice and social care.

“In March, 22,500 people waited over 12 hours to be admitted to hospital from A&E – a more than thirty-fold increase compared to a year ago."

Separate figures show 1.5 million patients in England were waiting for a key diagnostic test in February – the same as in January.

At the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay, 6,870 patients were waiting for one of 14 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 244 (4 per cent) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures from NHS England show that of 86 patients urgently referred at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay in February, 49 received cancer treatment within two months.

A month previously – when 94 patients were referred – 54 were treated within 62 days.

In February 2021, 62 patients were treated within this period, out of 89 that were referred.