Almost 1,900 patients were waiting more than a year for treatment at Nottingham University Hospitals in July, as performance deteriorated following an improvement the previous month.
Papers prepared for the Trust’s board meeting on Thursday 10 September show that the number waiting longer than 52 weeks rose by 197 to 1,899.
That represents an increase of almost 12 per cent in a month, with those waiting more than a year accounting for 2.4 per cent of the waiting list.
The proportion of patients on the referral-to-treatment waiting list who had been waiting less than 18 weeks fell from 67.2 per cent in June to 61.5 per cent in July. The Trust had planned to achieve 67.6 per cent in July.
The figures cover planned treatment, often described as elective care, rather than emergency admissions.
In his report to the board, chief executive Anthony May states: “Elective performance deteriorated in July, following the improvement reported in June.”
There was improvement among the longest-waiting patients, with the number waiting more than 65 weeks falling from 58 in June to 28 in July.
However, the rise in waits exceeding a year reversed June’s progress, when that figure had fallen by 253 to 1,702.
The papers describe a combination of capacity pressures and problems with waiting-list data. The introduction of a new electronic patient record system had involved a reduction in the capacity available to check and validate records before it went live.
NUH says that capacity has since been restored, with work continuing to ensure waiting times and the recorded starting points for treatment pathways are correct.
The chief executive’s report also says the proportion of patients waiting less than 18 weeks for a first attendance remains around five per cent behind plan, following a fall after the new system was introduced.
Despite the deterioration in waiting-time performance, NUH says activity remained strong across planned inpatient treatment, day cases and outpatient services.
Recovery measures include additional clinics and theatre capacity, continued checks of waiting-list records and targeted plans for the specialties facing the greatest difficulties.
The wider performance report describes weekend clinics for services with high demand, additional theatre sessions where needed and the pooling of waiting lists to help patients receive treatment sooner.
Diagnostic delays remain a further concern.
In July, performance against the six-week diagnostic waiting standard stood at 59.4 per cent, against the Trust’s recovery plan of 72.1 per cent.
The papers identify high demand, increased requests from inpatient services, scanner breakdowns during hot weather, staff sickness and vacancies as factors restricting capacity. They also say financial pressures have reduced some of the additional capacity previously available.
Ultrasound and CT backlogs increased during July, although extra MRI capacity helped reduce the MRI backlog by 290. Endoscopy also reduced the number of patients waiting more than six weeks by just under 150.
The Trust says overall diagnostic activity was at its highest level since July 2025, but performance remained behind its recovery plan.
Board members will consider the figures alongside the continuing pressure on emergency care, where high bed occupancy and discharge delays have restricted the movement of patients through Nottingham’s hospitals.
