The numbers waiting over a year for hospital treatment have hit a 12-year high in England as hospitals struggle to get services back to normal. Nearly 2m patients have been waiting more than the target time of 18 weeks for routine care with 111,000 left for over a year, NHS England figures show.
The numbers starting cancer treatment and getting urgent checks are also below the levels seen a year ago.
But NHS England said "progress" was being made.
It pointed out more patients were starting to be seen - although there are now warnings service may have to be cut back on again as admissions for Covid continue to rise.
About 500 patients a day are being admitted to hospital with the disease - double the number two weeks ago.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK was in a "perilous" position and the ability of the NHS to see non-Covid patients was under threat.
Health minister Nadine Dorries predicted within 10 days hospitals would be a "critical" point.
Source: BBC News, 8 October 2020
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