Tens of thousands of patients were waiting for routine treatment at Great Western Hospital at the end of June, and the number is only growing according to new data.

NHS England figures show that 37,829 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Great Western Hospitals at the end of June.

This was up from 36,753 in May and has grown hugely since the 32,573 recorded in June of 2022.

Of those in June 2023, 2,466 of them had been waiting for longer than a year, which is seven per cent of the waiting list.

A spokesperson for Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “Increased pressure on the NHS has presented considerable challenge over the past few years which has resulted in higher demand for urgent and emergency care services and longer waiting lists than have ever been experienced before.

“Despite this, we are working hard to reduce waiting times for treatment. The national Elective Recovery Plan sets out two key Referral to Treatment targets to achieve; to have no patients waiting longer than two years and to eliminate waits of over 18 months, both of which we have achieved.

“If patients feel they are becoming more unwell, we encourage them to contact their GP or the relevant Trust speciality their care falls under.”

Have you been waiting a long time for treatment at Great Western Hospital? Get in touch at ed.burnett@newsquest.co.uk.