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Tens of thousands of patients were waiting for routine treatment at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust in July, figures show.

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

NHS England figures show 52,808 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at SFH – which runs Sutton’s King’s Mill, Mansfield Community and Newark hospitals – at the end July, up from 51,943 in June, and 43,729 in July 2022.

Of those, 1,349, 3 per cent, had been waiting for longer than a year.

King's Mill Hospital in Sutton, is run by Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust. (Photo by: Submitted)

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at SFH 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.

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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.”

Separate figures show 1.6m patients in England were waiting for a key diagnostic test in July – the same as in June.

At SFH, 11,121 patients were waiting for one of 12 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time. Of them, 3,704, 33 per cent, had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Plans are progressing for a new community diagnostic centre in Mansfield designed to offer such tests and cut waiting times.

Other figures from NHS England show that of 69 patients urgently referred by the NHS who were treated at SFH in July, 48 were receiving cancer treatment within two months of their referral.

A month previously – when 95 patients were referred – 75 were treated within 62 days.

In July 2022, 61 patients were treated within this period, out of 95 that were referred.

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."

King’s Mill Hospital: all the latest key numbers