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

It comes as Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the NHS is "now on the road to recovery" as waiting lists dropped slightly across England.

NHS England figures show 74,220 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust at the end of September – down from 75,910 in August, but an increase on 72,319 in September 2024.

Of those, 2,290 (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 September – the same as in August.

Nationally, an estimated 7.4 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of September, relating to 6.2 million patients. It was down slightly from the number of treatments and patients at the end of August.

Just over 2% of people on the list for hospital treatment had been waiting more than 52 weeks in September, also a slight fall from the previous month.

The Government and NHS England are aiming to bring this figure to under 1% by March 2026.

Mr Streeting said: "Thanks to the investment and modernisation this Government has made, waiting lists are falling and patients are being treated sooner.

"We are cutting waste to reinvest billions over the coming years in frontline care – less unnecessary bureaucracy and more services for patients.

"And at the Budget the Chancellor is protecting investment in the NHS, to rebuild after more than a decade of decline.

“The past year is the first time in 15 years that waiting lists have fallen. There’s a long way to go, but the NHS is now on the road to recovery."

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

At the Royal Devon University Healthcare Foundation Trust, 20,850 patients were waiting for one of 14 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 9,743 (47%) 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 September began treatment within two months of their referral.

Tim Gardner, assistant director of policy at the Health Foundation, said: "While figures for September show a slight decrease in the elective waiting list to 7.4 million, and a welcome reduction in waiting times, restoring the 18-week standard by the end of this parliament remains a tall order."

He added an "urgent resolution" to the five-day resident doctors' strike beginning on Friday is also vital.