The South Tyneside and Sunderland Trust: all the key numbers for the NHS Trust in May

Tens of thousands of patients were waiting for routine treatment at the South Tyneside and Sunderland Trust in May, figures show.

Junior doctors walked out on Thursday as part of five days of industrial action – amid record waiting lists across England.

NHS England figures show 58,668 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust at the end of May – down from 59,343 in April, but an increase on 53,355 in May 2022.

Of those, 326 had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at the South Tyneside and Sunderland Trust was nine weeks at the end of May – the same as in April.

Nationally, 7.5 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of May.

Junior doctors walked out for five days from 7am on Thursday in the longest spell of industrial action in the history of the health service.

They return to work at 7am on July 18 and 48 hours later consultants are set to strike for two days. Radiographers across 43 NHS trusts will also walk out for two days from July 25.

Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, also called industrial action a “black cloud” hanging over the health service, which is currently in the “most challenging period of operational pressure”.

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

At the South Tyneside and Sunderland Trust, 10,131 patients were waiting for one of 13 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 2,785 (27%) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures show cancer patients at the South Tyneside and Sunderland Trust are not being seen quickly enough.

The NHS states 85% of cancer patients urgently referred by a GP should start treatment within 62 days.

But NHS England data shows just 58% of patients urgently referred by the NHS who received cancer treatment at the South Tyneside and Sunderland Trust in May began treatment within two months of their referral.

That was down from both 63% in April, and 70% in May 2022 last year.

Dr Sarah Scobie, acting director of research at the Nuffield Trust think tank, said: "Figures this morning on NHS performance and GP patient experience illustrate clearly that there will be no sudden return to the waiting times the public have been promised and still expect".

"Yesterday's update from the NHS that it will adjust recovery targets on waits for planned operations is an acceptance of the difficult reality services now face with no end to doctor strikes in sight," she added.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: "It is disappointing that the BMA is going ahead with further strike action. This five-day walkout by junior doctors will have an impact on thousands of patients, put patient safety at risk and hamper efforts to cut NHS waiting lists."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson 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 improve urgent care, getting 800 new ambulances on the road, adding 5,000 hospital beds and scaling up virtual wards," they added.