New data has revealed the number of people on East and North Herts hospitals' waiting lists, as national treatment wait times have now hit record numbers.

NHS England data shows that In total, there were 42,258 people waiting for treatment at East and North Herts NHS Trust hospitals at last count in December 2020. That was the 34th highest figure out of all of England's NHS Trusts.

And of that total, 1,158 people in total have been waiting for treatment for more than a year at Lister, New QEII and Hertford County hospitals.

There are 224,205 people in England who have waited more than 12 months for routine hospital treatment - the highest number since April 2008. The total in February 2020 before the pandemic hit was just 1,613.

And overall, 4.5 million patients are on NHS waiting lists - a national record.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England says “a huge, hidden waiting list is building” across the nation under lockdown.

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

At East and North Herts Trust's hospitals, 69.7 per cent of patients had started treatment within 18 weeks of referral, according to NHS England data.

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