One in eight on hospital waiting list as backlog grows

The backlog in hospital treatment continues to grow with nearly one in eight people now waiting for operations or other types of care in England.

The newly-released NHS England data shows there were 6.84m people on the waiting list at the end of July.

It is a record number - before the pandemic there were 4.2m waiting for treatment.

There were slight improvements in emergency care with ambulance and A&E waits decreasing.

But both services are still a long way from meeting their targets though.

Close to three in 10 people waited longer than four hours in A&E in August, while ambulance crews continue to struggle to respond to 999 calls within their target times.

The new figures illustrate the scale of the challenge facing new prime minister Liz Truss and her health secretary Therese Coffey.

Ms Truss has promised to put the NHS on a "firm footing" and the government is expected to unveil a plan for the health service next week.

It will cover England only as health is devolved.