The monthly data published today gives the waiting times for 15 key diagnostic tests carried out in the NHS.
More information, including a diagnostic data Q&A, is available on the DH website.
Main findings this month:
- The number of patients, for whom English commissioners are responsible, waiting over 6 weeks for any one of the 15 key diagnostics tests at the end of July 2011 was 10,700, a decrease of 1,800 from June 2011, but an increase of 7,000 from July 2010.
- Of the patients waiting at the end of July 2011, 98.2% had been waiting under 6 weeks, compared to 97.9% in June 2011, and 99.3% in July 2010.
- The quarterly census of all tests, carried out at the end of June 2011, indicates there are an additional 5,200 over 6 week waiters in tests not captured in the 15 included in the monthly return. This is an increase of 300 over 6 week waits since the March 2011 census.