Moorfields Eye Hospital Trust: all the key numbers for the NHS Trust in November

File photo dated 03/10/14 of an NHS hospital ward, as thousands of stroke patients who could benefit from a "miracle treatment" that pulls them back from "near death" are being denied access to it, a charity has warned.

Tens of thousands of patients were waiting for routine treatment at Moorfields Eye Hospital Trust in November, figures show.

It comes as the King's Trust health charity said it will be a challenge to meet the Government's latest pledge to reduce waiting lists by the end of the year.

NHS England figures show 37,276 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust at the end of November – down from 37,786 in October, but an increase on 34,619 in November 2021.

Of those, 19 had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at Moorfields Eye Hospital Trust was eight weeks at the end of November – down from nine weeks in October.

Nationally, 6.9 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of November.

Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at the King’s Fund, said there was “no shying away from the reality that the NHS is deep in crisis”.

Ms Anandaciva added: “While there are huge delays in admitting patients, there are also serious issues in discharging patients – with over 13,000 people stuck in hospital despite being medically fit to leave.

“Meanwhile, the waiting list for planned hospital care remains stubbornly over 7 million and cancer services are also under pressure, which underlines the challenge in meeting the Government’s latest pledge to reduce waiting lists by the end of 2023.”

Separate figures show 1.6 million patients in England were waiting for a key diagnostic test in November – a rise on 1.5 million in October.

At Moorfields Eye Hospital Trust, 193 patients were waiting for one of three standard tests, such as an MRI scan or non-obstetric ultrasound at this time.

None of themhad been waiting for at least six weeks.

Cancer Research UK chief executive Michelle Mitchell said the figures “paint an extremely troubling picture for people affected by cancer”, adding: “The last time all targets for cancer waiting times were met was as far back as 2015, and the number of people waiting for diagnosis and treatment remains unacceptably high.

“It can be easy to get lost in statistics – but each one of those numbers represents someone’s child, parent, partner, sibling or friend.”

NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “The NHS will keep its foot on the accelerator to continue to make progress on the Covid backlog and hospitals have today been asked to ensure anyone waiting longer than 18 months has their treatment booked in before March.”