Lancashire and South Cumbria has come out on top in a list of care boards where patients are waiting the longest for hospital treatment.

Around one in seven adults (14.7 per cent) in England who are waiting for a hospital appointment or treatment say they have been waiting at least 12 months, a new survey by NHS England and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested.

One in 13 (7.8 per cent) of all survey respondents waiting for a hospital appointment or treatment said they had been waiting more than 18 months.

Looking at NHS care board areas, Lancashire & South Cumbria Integrated Care Board area had the highest proportion (17.5 per cent) of people waiting 18 months to be treated.

North-west England had the highest level among the regions (10.5 per cent) for long waits.

However, the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) said the 'ONS data was an extrapolation of survey responses and did not represent an accurate picture in Lancashire and South Cumbria'

According to the ICB, 'the data shows that at the end of January 2024, there were 197,572 patients on a waiting list in LSC, and 1 per cent of these patients (1,982) had been waiting over 65 weeks and 0.05 per cent (107) over 78 weeks.'

The ICB revealed the 'total number of patients on a waiting list in January had reduced by 1.97 per cent since October 2023 and the number of 65 week waits reduced by 25.1 per cent in the same time period.'

The survey was carried out between January 16 and February 15 by NHS England and the ONS, and is based on a sample of adults aged 16 and over in England who said they had been waiting for a hospital appointment, test or to start receiving medical treatment through the NHS.

The data also showed a sharp contrast between how long people are waiting in the poorest parts of the country compared to the richest – 21.3 per cent of people in the most deprived areas were waiting for more than a year compared to 12.4 per cent in the least deprived regions.

Some 18.3 per cent of adults in north-west England waiting for a hospital appointment or treatment told the survey they have been waiting 12 months or longer, the highest of any region.

Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB said its "elective recovery programme was aimed at eliminating long waits for treatment, reducing waiting times and addressing health inequalities by managing demand and maximising capacity".

It pointed to six main priorities including referral optimisation; waiting list management, outpatient transformation, theatre transformation, surgical hubs and use of the independent sector.

A spokesperson said: “In June 2022 we achieved the national standard of eliminating 104-week (two-year) waits.

"We have made significant progress in reducing the number of patients waiting more than 78 weeks (18 months) – down from 2,608 to 142 patients in 12 months to March 2023.

"Waiting lists have stabilised, and the number of patients waiting more than 65 and 52 weeks is also now decreasing.

“But more can still be done, and we believe that by focusing on these six priorities we can eliminate long waits, reduce waiting times and address health inequalities.”

The survey also asked participants about their experiences of using GP surgeries, and found while half said contacting their GP was easy, almost one in three said it was difficult.

Deputy chair of the British Medical Association’s general practice committee for England, Dr David Wrigley, said: “We all want the same thing: GPs want to be able to see their patients, and patients want to be able to see their GP.

“It is no wonder patients are unable to get an appointment in a timely fashion with their GP because, without adequate funding and resources, this is getting harder to achieve.”

Vice-chair of the Royal College of GPs, Dr Margaret Ikpoh, added: “We know how much our patients value the care that GPs and our teams offer, and we share their frustrations when they struggle to access it when they need to.

“Despite years of underfunding and poor workforce planning, hardworking GP teams are still managing to provide a positive experience for most patients, with nearly two-thirds stating that their experience of general practice was good.”