More than 150,000 patients were waiting for routine treatment at the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust in June, new figures show.

NHS figures reveal 155,403 patients were waiting for non-urgent operations or treatment at the end of June – up from 153,268 in May, and over 50,000 more than the 100,286 in June 2021.

Of those, 7,861 - five per cent - had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral to treatment at the Mid and South Essex Trust was 15 weeks at the end of June – up from 14 weeks in May.

Nationally, 6.7million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of June.

Jessica Morris, of the Nuffield Trust health think tank, said the NHS had succeeded in clearing the vast majority of two-year waits, but that would "not provide any let-up for NHS staff".

Ms Morris said: "The NHS may have overcome the first hurdle, but as new figures show the mountain to climb to clear the total waiting list keeps getting bigger.

"Staffing shortages and ongoing pressure from Covid-19, and a broken and overstretched care system, continue to slow down how quickly the NHS can work through this major backlog."

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

At Mid and South Essex, 30,428 patients were waiting for one of 13 standard tests, such as an MRI scan or gastroscopy.

Of them, 10,297 had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures show cancer patients at the trust are not being seen quickly enough.

The NHS says 85 per cent of cancer patients urgently referred by a GP should start treatment within 62 days.

But NHS data shows the figure was just 41 per cent - up from 40 per cent in May, but down from 60 per cent in June 2021.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it is making progress in "busting the Covid backlogs" and has rolled out over 90 community diagnostic centres, which have carried out more than 1.5million checks.

A spokesman added: "We have also met our target to virtually eliminate waits of over two years for elective care - the first milestone in our Elective Recovery Plan.

"The pandemic put unprecedented pressure on the NHS and we are hugely grateful to staff for their tireless work."