Rishi Sunak has failed to keep his promise to cut NHS waiting lists as the number at West Hertfordshire hospitals rose on last year.

Recently released NHS figures show that waiting lists at West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust had grown in the 12 months after the PM pledged that "NHS waiting lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly".

The data revealed that 58,212 patients were waiting to start treatment by the end of January.

While the number is down from 58,720 in December, it represents a 16 per cent increase from 50,279 in January 2023.

The figure includes people on the waiting list for either an appointment, day case or inpatient or outpatient procedure.

West Hertfordshire patients also had to wait longer to be referred for treatment at the trust as the average time rose to 18 weeks from 15 weeks in January last year, a 20 per cent increase.

A trust spokesperson said: “We apologise to anyone who is waiting longer than expected to be seen or treated.

“We are working hard to improve wait times through a range of initiatives including outsourcing, insourcing (where external contractors use our facilities) and weekend working.

“This has helped us to make strong inroads on our 52, 65 and 78 week waits. We are currently one of the top three best performing trusts in the East of England for improving wait times against these targets.”

In response to the criticism, health and social care secretary Victoria Atkins said the government’s “commitment to cutting waiting times is unwavering”.

Watford Observer: In response to the criticism, Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said the government’s “commitment to cutting waiting times is unwavering”.In response to the criticism, Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said the government’s “commitment to cutting waiting times is unwavering”. She added that overall waiting lists had decreased for the fourth month in a row, despite industrial action and “record winter pressures”, although the NHS data shows that there were still 250,000 more patients on the list than in January last year.

The minister said: “We are determined to continue improving experiences for patients and making access to care faster, simpler and fairer. 

“We are making progress in reducing A&E waiting times, including adding an extra 5,000 permanent staffed beds this winter to increase capacity and help patients be seen as quickly as possible.”

The Prime Minister was previously forced to admit that he had broken his promise in an interview with Piers Morgan in February.

Mr Sunak conceded “we have not made enough progress” when asked about the commitment and agreed that the government had failed to uphold its promise, he blamed industrial action by nurses, junior doctors and consultants for the increase.

The West Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust has been contacted for comment.