More than 15,000 patients were waiting for routine treatment at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in January, new figures show.

It comes as a health and social care think tank warned of a "continued backlog for care" in England.

NHS England figures show 16,607 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust at the end of January – down slightly from 16,651 in December, but an increase on 14,729 in January 2024.

Of those, 981 (6%) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral to treatment at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital was 20 weeks at the end of January – the same as in December.

Nationally, 6.3 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of January — up slightly from 6.2 million at the end of December.

But an estimated 7.4 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of January, which was down from 7.5 million at the end of last year.

Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, welcomed the drop but warned improvements must still be made.

She said that, although the figures highlight progress has been made on the number of treatments waiting to be carried out nationally, efforts are "dwarfed by the magnitude of the continued backlog for care".

As NHS leaders meet today to discuss funding, she said "it is crystal clear" the financial pressures faced by the NHS are linked to a higher demand for healthcare, a "poor or patchy" provision of social care, and a lack of funding in primary and community care.

Separate figures show 1.6 million patients in England were waiting for a key diagnostic test in January – the same as in December.

At Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, 1,312 patients were waiting for one of four standard tests, such as an MRI scan or non-obstetric ultrasound at this time.

Of them, 171 (13%) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures from NHS England show that two out of four cancer patients urgently referred to Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in January received treatment within two months of their referral.

A month previously – when seven patients were referred – six were treated within 62 days.

In January 2024, two out of two patients were treated within this period.

Professor Pat Price, leading oncologist and chair of Radiotherapy UK, said: "Today's cancer data shows that yet again we are going backwards, and the cancer crisis is only deepening.

"Cancer patients are still waiting too long, and stagnation at frighteningly bad waiting times cannot fall off the agenda."

She warned that, despite pressures on public funding, "the primary obligation must always be to deliver high-quality care".

"Cancer patients cannot afford further delays – cancer cannot be the collateral-timely treatment is the minimum they deserve," she added.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting welcomed the drop in the NHS waiting list, but warned "there is still a long way to go" to fully address waiting times.

He added: "By delivering the 2 million more appointments we promised before the election, ending the strikes, and reforming the NHS to drive up productivity, we are putting the NHS on the road to recovery.

"Through the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change, we will cut the longest waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks, so the NHS is there for you when you need it, once again."