Tens of thousands of patients were waiting for routine treatment at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Trust in December

A health think tank said while the overall waiting list appears to be stabilising, “the Prime Minister’s pledge to bring the waiting list down will not be met”.

NHS England figures show 53,893 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at the end of December – down slightly from 54,367 in November, but an increase on 50,231 in December 2022.

Of those, 1,330 (two per cent) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Trust was 14 weeks at the end of December – up from 13 weeks in November.

Nationally, 7.6 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of December – slightly down from 7.61 million in November and the third consecutive fall.

Denise Smith, chief operating officer at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, said: “Our colleagues are working hard to reduce waiting times following the pandemic, ensuring we see and treat our patients according to clinical priority and waiting time.

"To help with this, some of our patients may be offered an appointment at an alternative site that has more capacity in the specialty they need.

“We have also recently opened the Mexborough Elective Orthopaedic Centre of Excellence at our Mexborough site which will serve as an orthopaedic surgery hub for patients who require orthopaedic procedures and are currently on a waiting list. The Community Diagnostic Centre has also recently opened its doors in Mexborough to patients who are awaiting diagnostic tests.

“Our patients can also help by letting us know if they need cancel or rearrange an appointment so that we can offer this to another patient.”

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

At Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Trust, 10,393 patients were waiting for one of 13 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 2,811 (27 per cent) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures show cancer patients at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Trust are not being seen quickly enough.

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

But NHS England data shows just 76 per cent of cancer patients urgently referred to Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Trust in December began treatment within two months of their referral.

That was up from both 72 per cent in November, but up from 74 per cent in December 2022.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s top five priorities and, despite winter pressures and the impact of industrial action, overall NHS waiting lists have decreased for the third month in a row.

“We’re determined to continue improving patient care, having already delivered on our promise to create 5,000 extra permanent hospital beds and 10,000 hospital at home beds, freeing up capacity and cutting waiting times.”