A RECORD number of patients had been waiting a year or more for routine treatment at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust in February, figures reveal.

The Nuffield Trust said the record size of the NHS waiting list across England shows the health service has been set back years by the coronavirus pandemic and now faces a "major backlog".

NHS rules state that patients referred for non-urgent consultant-led elective care should start treatment within 18 weeks.

But NHS statistics show 2,344 patients listed for elective operations or treatment at University Hospitals Of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust at the end of February had been waiting for at least a year – 10% of all those on the waiting list.

This was a huge increase from one the year before, and the highest figure for the month of February since comparable records began in 2012.

The number of people waiting this long across England has risen to 387,900 – the highest total since December 2007, and almost 250 times that of February 2020.

The Nuffield Trust said the strain of the backlog on patients should not be underestimated, but added it is no surprise given the intense pressure of Covid-19 hospitalisations.

Sarah Scobie, deputy director of research at the organisation, said healthcare staff have made huge sacrifices during the pandemic, but more will be asked of them.