Year-long waits for treatment triple at Russells Hall Hospital during second Covid wave

Meanwhile more than 4,000 patients are now waiting longer than 18 weeks for treatment at Dudley's main hospital.

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust – which runs Russells Hall Hospital – revealed the numbers had risen as a result of the virus.

It comes after theatre staff were redeployed to the critical care department due to the need to prioritise emergency care at the hospital.

The move has seen theatre capacity at the hospital reduced from nine to six theatres in order to cope with the high levels of demand.

Karen Kelly, chief operating officer at the trust, told a trust board meeting their referral to treatment levels had declined.

She said: "Our referral to treatment, our 18 weeks, the performance here has declined and that's been as a direct results of the requirements to support critical care, because of staff moving into critical care and super surge for critical care into theatres.

"Back in October and November, we had twelve 52-week breaches and a respective 27 in November. We had 45 in December.

"Now that has increased significantly through January and that's a direct result of the PTL [Patient Treatment List] and patients moving along that continuum.

"But we do harm reviews for all those patients who are waiting anywhere near those 52 weeks or beyond.

"The number of patients waiting longer than 18 weeks has increased for the trust from 1,560 to just over 4,000, but we're working with those and through those."

The trust remains in the top 10 nationally – being in ninth – based on data from October last year, released on January 14, for referral rates. It is also the best performing trust in the region for referral and median waiting times.

A spokesman for the Black Country and West Birmingham Sustainability and Transformation Partnership, added: "The NHS in the Black Country and West Birmingham is working with the independent sector to ensure patients receive timely treatment, in line with national guidance."

Meanwhile, in Staffordshire, chiefs at the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust – which runs County Hospital in Stafford – said some cancer services have been moved to the "independent sector" to ensure they can continue amid Covid-19.

Some services have been moved to Nuffield Health at Clayton, Newcastle-under-Lyme; Rowley Hall Hospital, Stafford and Beacon Park Day Surgery and Diagnostics Centre in Stafford.

So far 653 people have been reported by the NHS to have died at Russells Hall after contracting coronavirus.