FEWER patients at Mid and South Essex Trust faced waits of more than three months for medical tests at the end of April, figures show.

But the trust is still facing a significant backlog, with the number of patients waiting too long for diagnostic appointments well up from the same point last year.

NHS trusts report waiting times for 15 key tests at the end of each month, which are used to diagnose a wide range of diseases and conditions.

A patient referred for one of these tests should have it completed within six weeks, according to NHS rules.

But NHS Digital data shows 4,157 people had been waiting at least 13 weeks at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust at the end of April.

Although this was a drop of 17 per cent from the 5,015 patients who had been waiting this long in March, it was significantly more than the 1,094 patients who had experienced such delays at the same time last year.

Across England, 136,200 patients had been waiting 13 weeks or more for tests at the end of April – more than four times the 31,200 a year earlier.

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Health think tank the Nuffield Trust said NHS staff are continuing to work under pressure to make a dent in the "troubling backlog" of tests nationally.

Deputy director of research Sarah Scobie said urgent non-coronavirus demand is growing rapidly amid the easing of restrictions in England, but added hospitals could see another rise in Covid admissions as new infections surge.

She said: “Rising cases and early signs of more hospitalisations in Delta variant hotspots are a real concern.

"If Covid-19 demand rises alongside growing non-coronavirus need, the NHS will be forced again to do more with less given the reduction in bed numbers due to social distancing and ongoing staff exhaustion and shortages."

The figures also show that 8,148 of Mid and South Essex Trust patients had been waiting six weeks or more for medical tests at the end of April – fewer than the 8,649 in March, and down from 12,137 in April 2020.

Overall, a total of 23,039 patients were waiting for key diagnostic tests at the end of April.

NHS England said operations and other routine care were ahead of ambitions nationally.

A spokesman said waiting times for diagnostic tests also fell to a median average of 2.7 weeks in April – down from a peak of 8.6 in May last year.