The number of people waiting for routine hospital treatment has grown to 6.4 million, the highest since records began in April 2007.
Trauma and orthopaedic departments have the largest waiting lists, with 731,000 patients queueing for treatments such as knee and hip replacements, 55,000 of whom have been waiting over a year.
The number of people waiting for routine hospital treatment has grown to 6.4 million, the highest since records began in April 2007.
The NHS England figures, for the end of March, show the proportion of people who have been waiting for 18 weeks or less has fallen to 62.4%, far below the NHS target of 92% and the worst performance in more than a year.
Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England, said hospital teams were making good progress in tackling the backlogs, with record numbers of diagnostic tests and cancer checks taking place in March, as part of what he described as “the most ambitious catch up plan in NHS history”.
But Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “All parts of the NHS are unquestionably struggling.”
Here, we reveal the hospital departments at Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust hospitals, which runs Pinderfields, Pontefract and Dewsbury hospitals, with the biggest waiting lists, as of March 2022 - the latest available data.

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The number of people waiting for routine hospital treatment across England are at record highs.

. Cardiology service - 868
Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. Picture: Adobe Stock.


. Ear, Nose and Throat - 4,446
Otolaryngologists, commonly known as ear, nose and throat doctors.

. Elderly medicine service - 103
Elderly Medicine is a branch of general medicine concerned with the clinical, preventative, remedial and social aspects of illness in old age.

. Gastroenterology - 3,330
Gastroenterology is the branch of medicine that looks at diseases of the oesophagus (gullet), stomach, small and large intestines (bowel), liver, gallbladder and pancreas.

17. Rheumatology - 567
Rheumatologists are doctors who diagnose and manage chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

18. Trauma and orthopaedic - 2,852
Trauma and orthopaedic surgeons diagnose and treat conditions of the musculoskeletal system including bones and joints and structures that enable movement such as ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves.

19. Urology - 2,515
Urology, also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary-tract system and the reproductive organs.