Patients waiting over a year for hospital treatment have skyrocketed more than 100-fold during the pandemic. NHS England found those waiting more than 52 weeks to start treatment was 139,545 in September - the highest since September 2008.
In September 2019 this stood at just 1,305. However a concerted effort by GPs has seen them now referring as many people for urgent cancer checks as before the pandemic.
There are 4.35 million people on the waiting list for treatment. By the end of October, there were 9,782 hospital beds occupied by Covid patients, up from just over 2,000 at the end of September.
Prof Neil Mortensen, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England said: “Today’s figures really bring home the impact of COVID on other