Almost 100,000 patients were waiting for routine treatment at Oxford University Hospitals Trust in September, new figures show.

It comes as the Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, announced a package of "tough" reforms to tackle the NHS crisis, including the introduction of a new league table of NHS providers.

NHS England figures show 89,771 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at the end of September – up from 87,648 in August, and 79,111 in September 2023.

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Of those, 3,642 (four per cent) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral to treatment at the Trust's hospitals was 15 weeks at the end of September – down from 16 weeks in August.

Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at The King’s Fund, said: "Transparency is a good aim, but league tables alone will not lead to better and faster care this winter.

"It could result in the unintended consequence of health leaders becoming too focused on reporting upwards to national bodies, instead of outwards to what their local communities need."

He said care outside of hospitals must be factored in, adding: "Shifting more care into the community, reforming social care, and bolstering prevention, will all be key to making our healthcare service fit for the future."

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Other figures also show cancer patients at the Trust Hospitals are not being seen quickly enough, as just 63 per cent referred to Oxford hospitals in September began treatment within two months, the same as in September 2023.

The NHS states 85 per cent of urgent cancer patient referrals should start treatment within 62 days.

Tim Gardner, assistant director of policy at think tank the Health Foundation, said the figures show the immense challenge the government faces, but welcomed the NHS reforms. 

He said: "It’s right for the Health and Social Care Secretary to focus on value for money and to be clear about the performance expected, but the measures announced yesterday must be supported by other policies to improve performance.

"Improvement will only happen if staff believe these new processes to be fair, that support is genuine, and that their voice is heard – or we risk further lowering of morale."

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Mr Streeting said: "It is welcome to finally see progress start to be made on the backlog.

"Since we ended the strikes, we have been ramping up delivery of an extra 40,000 extra appointments every week.

"The extra investment in the Budget plus the reforms announced this week to drive up productivity will cut waiting lists further and get patients seen faster."

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