NHS waiting lists: more than a million waiting for treatment across Yorkshire and the North East

However, there was a sharp decline in the number of people waiting the longest to start treatment.

An estimated 7.62 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of June in England, relating to 6.39 million patients – up slightly from 7.60 million treatments and 6.37 million patients at the end of May.

In Yorkshire and the North East, 1.01 million treatments were left on the waiting list, which was fairly static from the previous month.

The highest number of waits was for trauma and orthopaedic services, while the highest proportion of patients on the list for more than 18 weeks was for ear, nose and throat issues.

Yorkshire and North East hospitals outperformed most of the national averages.

However, worryingly the number of people waiting more than a year for their treatment to start rose by more than 5 per cent, while across England, this figure fell.

Mr Streeting said: “These figures confirm that 14 years of Conservative neglect left the NHS broken, waiting lists rising, and patients failed. Never again should the Conservatives be trusted with our health service.

“It will take time to turn the NHS around. But we are working night and day to get the NHS back on its feet, so it can once again be there for us all when we need it.”

The region’s three care boards lagged behind the national average when it came to assessing people in emergency departments within four hours in July.

In particular, only half of major A&E attendances at the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board were either admitted or discharged within four hours.

A spokesperson said: “The ICB and its providers are working hard to improve the performance in the area of urgent and emergency care.

“Recovery Plans have been developed to make a positive impact across all types and settings, and improve the timely care and experience of patients across Humber and North Yorkshire.”

Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “A&E staff are under significant pressure and the NHS is in the middle of what could be its busiest summer ever, with a total of 4.6 million attendances in the last two months alone and 2024 now having seen the three busiest months for A&E on record.

“While we have seen improvements in the number of patients seen and treated within four hours in A&E, slightly faster ambulance response times, and more than three quarters of cancer patients receiving an all clear or diagnosis in four weeks, it is clear that waits for patients across a range of services remain unacceptable and there is much more to do to deliver more timely care for those who need it.

“Nobody in the NHS wants to see patients experiencing long delays and we are committed to working with the Government to create a 10-year plan for health that includes a clear plan to bring waits down.”

Reacting to the data, Danielle Jefferies, senior analyst at think tank The King’s Fund, said: “These figures are a stark reminder that the pressure in the NHS is not going away as it grapples with ongoing industrial action, tight public finances, and a rise in the number of beds occupied by patients with Covid-19.

“This is worrying because the NHS should be working now to prepare for winter, but instead providers are using their time and money to tackle immediate pressures.

“The new Government will need to be clear on how it will support the NHS and patients going into a difficult winter and will face difficult decisions on how to recover NHS performance.”