Worksop's Bassetlaw Hospital: all the latest key numbers

The shadow health secretary has branded the Prime Minister "inaction man" over rising waiting lists.

NHS England figures show 53,172 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at DBTH – the trust runs Worksop’s Bassetlaw Hospital, Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Mexborough’s Montagu Hospital – at the end of July, up from 52,266 in June, and 49,727 in July 2022.

Of those, 1,181, 2 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 12 weeks at the end of July – the same as in June.

Nationally, 7.7 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of July.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said patients were waiting an “unacceptably long” time.

He said: “On the NHS, Rishi Sunak is Inaction Man, refusing to meet with doctors to end NHS strikes and adding to the Conservatives’ NHS backlog, leaving patients waiting for months on end in pain and agony.”

At DBTH, 13,631 patients were waiting for one of 13 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 5,096, 37 per cent, had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures from NHS England show that of 88 patients urgently referred by the NHS who were treated at DBTH in July, 62 were receiving cancer treatment within two months of their referral.

A month previously – when 101 patients were referred – 66 were treated within 62 days.

In July 2022, 54 patients were treated within this period, out of 90 that were referred.

The Prime Minister told the BBC ongoing strikes by NHS staff were threatening his target of cutting waiting lists in 2023, acknowledging his promise could be missed.

Prof Julian Redhead, NHS England national clinical director for urgent and emergency care said: “The figures show that, despite ongoing pressures across the NHS, including record demand for emergency care this summer, and an increase in Covid cases during July and August, NHS staff are continuing to deliver for patients."