NHS data for May 2023 has revealed that Stockport is among the worst in England for NHS wait times, with one in 10 patients waiting at least one year for treatment. 

9.98% of patients under the Stockport Integrated Care Board (ICB) have been waiting for at least 52 weeks to receive treatment, an NHS backlog document revealed. This is the fourth highest in England, according to a recent ICB figures table.

Meanwhile, Trafford and Manchester ranked first and second respectively, with 12.96% and 12.91% under the same metrics. 

The British Medical Association (BMA) has suggested that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic massively strained capacity to deliver care, leading to 'significant' backlogs and longer waits for patients. 

The BMA defines the 'backlog' as care that the NHS would normally have delivered had it not been for the disruptive effect of Covid-19 on care delivery. 

Across England as a whole, 7.47 million patients were waiting for treatment; 3.03 million of these have been waiting over 18 weeks, and around 385,000 have been waiting for at least one year. 

In a statement giving analysis on the figures, the Liberal Democrat party described patients as being in 'limbo', subject to a 'postcode lottery'. 

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: "Rishi Sunak promised that NHS waiting lists would fall, instead they keep rising with thousands of people left waiting in pain for the treatment they need.

"These figures reveal a stark postcode lottery, with some areas seeing more than one in eight patients who have been stuck on an NHS waiting list for a year or more."

Let us know if you've been affected by long waiting times via the links to our social media below.

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