One in ten patients in Brighton and Hove have been waiting a year or more for NHS treatment, according to official figures.
The figures were published today by the Liberal Democrats who said that across the country the number of patients waiting at least a year for treatment had risen 15 per cent.
The increase over the past year emerged in a fresh analysis by the Liberal Democrats who said that it had happened despite the pledge by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, to reduce delays.
The Conservative leader has made cutting NHS waiting lists one of his five priorities in the lead up the next election.
But the Liberal Democrats said that NHS figures showed that year-long waits rose in the 12 months to May.
NHS England data said that there were 333,119 patients waiting 52 weeks for treatment in May 2022. By May 2023, that had increased to 385,022.
The Lib Dems said that the figures revealed a “stark postcode lottery”, with waits of a year of more far more common in some areas than others.
Trafford Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Manchester ICB in the north west were the worst-affected areas, with close to 13 per cent of patients on an NHS waiting list for at least 12 months.
In Brighton and Hove, as well as in Stockport, one in ten patients had been waiting for care for at least a year in May.
Sunderland in the north east had the lowest percentage of waits out of the ICBs in England, with fewer than 1 per cent of patients enduring a year-long delay.
Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem health and social care spokeswoman, said: “Rishi Sunak promised that NHS waiting lists would fall. Instead, they keep rising with thousands of people left waiting in pain for the treatment they need.
“These figures reveal a stark postcode lottery, with some areas seeing more than one in eight patients who have been stuck on an NHS waiting list for a year or more.
“The government’s failure to get to grips with soaring NHS waiting times is causing untold suffering and damaging our economy by leaving people too sick to return to work.
“The NHS is on its knees after years of Conservative neglect. Ministers have to take responsibility for tackling these unacceptable waits for treatment, instead of blaming everyone but themselves.”
The Department of Health and Social Care said: “This government is working to cut waiting times and the NHS is treating record numbers of patients each day.
“We have virtually eliminated 18-month waits and are taking immediate action to bring down waits of over a year, including reducing the number of patients requiring outpatient follow-up appointments.
“Our Elective Recovery Taskforce is also going further to unlock the independent sector so patients can be treated more quickly.”
