TENS of thousands of patients were waiting for routine treatment at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay in July, new figures show.

The Prime Minister has said the NHS must "reform or die" as the Government publishes a major report on its future.

NHS England figures show 31,220 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at University Hospitals Of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust at the end of July – down slightly from 31,306 in June, and 33,708 in July 2023.

Of those, 357 (1%) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay was 11 weeks at the end of July – up from 10 weeks in June.

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Nationally, 7.62 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of July – unchanged from the end of June.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said there will be no more money for the NHS without reform.

Addressing the King’s Fund annual conference in London, the Prime Minister said he would "accept the challenge" of fixing the NHS but warned it would be "measured in years, not months".

Sir Keir was responding to a damning report from surgeon and former health minister Lord Darzi, which lays bare the problems in the health service.

The rapid review, carried out in nine weeks, says the health service "is in critical condition, but its vital signs are strong".

It sets out widespread issues, including a failure to cut waits in A&E, missed targets for treatment and cancer care, alongside low productivity in hospitals despite investment in staffing.

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 University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay, 7,863 patients were waiting for one of 14 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 394 (5%) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures show cancer patients at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay are not being seen quickly enough.

The NHS states 85% of cancer patients with an urgent referral should start treatment within 62 days.

But NHS England data shows just 77% of cancer patients urgently referred to the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay in July began treatment within two months of their referral.

That was up from both 76% in June, and 75% in July 2023.

Rory Deighton, director of the NHS Confederation’s acute network, warned "positive signs of progress could easily be lost" in winter.

"These figures reinforce just how much pressure the NHS is under and just how hard staff are working to improve performance and provide the best care possible for patients," he said.