19,377 patients awaiting treatment over 3 months

THE number of patients waiting more than three months for hospital treatment has increased by 1,058 to 19,377 since April, new figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) show.

The figures suggest that more patients are coming onto the lists and having to wait longer.

And the number of surgical patients still on the waiting list over 12 months has only decreased only slightly in the past six months, from 611 to 584, according to the NTPF’s Patient Treatment Register.