Tens of thousands of patients were waiting for routine treatment at the Royal Devon University Healthcare Foundation Trust in June, figures show.

While NHS England praised its staff who "pulled out all the stops to treat a record number of patients in any June", health professionals have expressed concerns over treatment waiting times nationwide.

NHS England figures show 73,740 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust at the end of June – up from 72,905 in May, but a decrease on 75,184 in 2024.

Of those, 2,309 (3%) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at the Royal Devon University Healthcare Foundation Trust was 14 weeks at the end of June – the same as in May.

Nationally, 6.23 million people were waiting to start 7.37 million treatments at the end of June — up from 7.36 million treatments and just under 6.23 million at the end of May.

NHS England said this is due to more patients being referred, despite record numbers of people receiving care.

Waiting lists last increased in March before falling for two consecutive months.

Dr Becks Fisher, director of research and policy at the Nuffield Trust, warned "the NHS is struggling to keep pace with demand" as treatment waiting lists remain "stubbornly high".

She said the reported numbers of treatments waiting to take place "only show part of the picture", adding previous waiting list reductions "are not wholly due to increases in appointments being delivered" but also to patients coming off the list for other reasons than getting treatment.

"We need more transparent reporting otherwise the waiting list is an incomplete picture of how the NHS is dealing with the backlog."

Separate figures show 1.7 million patients in England were waiting for a key diagnostic test in June – the same as in May.

At the Royal Devon University Healthcare Foundation Trust, 20,201 patients were waiting for one of 14 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 8,921 (44%) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Other figures show cancer patients at the Royal Devon University Healthcare Foundation Trust are not being seen quickly enough.

The NHS states 85% of cancer patients urgently referred by a GP should start treatment within 62 days.

But NHS England data shows just 74% of patients urgently referred by the NHS who received cancer treatment at the Royal Devon University Healthcare Foundation Trust in June began treatment within two months of their referral.

That was down from 77% in May, but up from 67% in 2024 last year.

Professor Pat Price, leading oncologist and chair of Radiotherapy UK, said: "Today’s cancer waiting time figures lay bare the critical state of cancer care in the UK.

"Nearly a year on from Lord Darzi’s report, which found that UK cancer care 'still lags behind other countries', there are still deeply worrying signs that the Government has not grasped the scale of the challenge."

She warned many patients are still waiting too long for radiotherapy, and said she regretted the Government's recent decision to cut the £15.5 million AI funding promised to radiotherapy departments last year by the Conservatives.

She said: "Radiotherapy is a proven, cost-effective, and highly personalised treatment that has been overlooked by policymakers for far too long.

"With a National Cancer Plan on the horizon, the Government must give cancer treatment the same priority as cancer diagnosis by investing in world-class radiotherapy services."

Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS national medical director, said: "The latest figures show NHS staff continuing to deliver significant improvements in care for patients against a tide of rising demand, with a record number of patients being treated, tested or having cancer ruled in or out for any June.

"We know seasonality can have a big impact on waiting lists and it is encouraging to see that as more people come forward for care, we are also increasing activity at a steady rate with over 100,000 more treatments delivered this June compared to last."