Tens of thousands of patients were waiting for routine treatment at Oxford University Hospitals Trust in December, figures show.

A health think tank said while the overall waiting list appears to be stabilising, “the Prime Minister’s pledge to bring the waiting list down will not be met”.

NHS England figures show 80,599 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at the end of December – up slightly from 80,286 in November, and 72,519 in December 2022.

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Of those, 3,379 (four per cent) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at Oxford University Hospitals Trust was 15 weeks at the end of December – up from 14 weeks in November.

Nationally, 7.6 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of December – slightly down from 7.61 million in November and the third consecutive fall.

Sarah Scobie, acting director of research at the Nuffield Trust, said: “While 6,000 is only a very small fall, it has been achieved despite industrial action and winter pressures.”

However, she added the figures show the Prime Minister’s pledge to bring the waiting list down will not be met.

“In fact, today’s figures reveal that there are almost 400,000 more outstanding treatments now than when Sunak’s pledge was made last January.

“While the overall waiting list for treatments or operations appears to be stabilising, it is hard to see a route to making faster and more significant progress, with staff already working flat out and under immense pressure.”

Separate figures show 1.6 million patients in England were waiting for a key diagnostic test in December – the same as in November.

At Oxford University Hospitals Trust, 20,666 patients were waiting for one of 15 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 4,850 (23 per cent) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures show cancer patients at Oxford University Hospitals Trust are not being seen quickly enough.

The NHS states 85 per cent of cancer patients with an urgent referral should start treatment within 62 days.

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But NHS England data shows just 65 per cent of cancer patients urgently referred to Oxford University Hospitals Trust in December began treatment within two months of their referral.

That was up from both 62 per cent in November, but up from 56 per cent in December 2022.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s top five priorities and, despite winter pressures and the impact of industrial action, overall NHS waiting lists have decreased for the third month in a row.”