THE Tories have “lost control” of NHS waiting lists, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned today after the backlog of patients needing treatment hit a new record high.

Data from NHS England data showed that its overall waiting list was at 7.77 million at the end of September, up from 7.75 million at the end of August.

The figure is made up of 6.5 million individual patients, meaning that over a million patients are now waiting for more than one treatment.

RCN chief nurse Nicola Ranger said: “The government has lost control of NHS waiting times and the record numbers waiting increase each month on their watch.

“Despite the numbers now almost trebling since May 2010 and the Prime Minister’s promises to cut waits, people are being told today that they’re going to be waiting longer as the NHS runs out of money.”

The overall waiting list is at its longest since records began in August 2007, despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claiming that cutting delays in treatment is one of his priorities.

Publication of the figures follows the revelation that hospitals in England will be allowed to cut back on some preplanned care to cover the cost of strikes by NHS staff.

They also show that 10,201 people in England are estimated to have been waiting more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment at the end of September, up from 8,998 at the end of August.

Professor Ranger added: “These lists have been growing for years and the shortage of nurses is one of the fundamental causes.

“This is the result of ignoring and devaluing our safety-critical profession over 13 years and now it’s patients paying the highest price.”

According to the figures, a number of key cancer targets were not met in September and the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England — from a decision to admit to actually being admitted — rose by 35 per cent to 44,655 in October.

Professor Vivien Lees of the Royal College of Surgeons of England warned: “Winter pressures have already started to affect the system.”

The King’s Fund senior analyst Danielle Jefferies added: “This winter will be bleak for the NHS, particularly if we see high levels of flu and Covid-19 in the coming weeks.”

And shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “The longer we give the Conservatives, the longer patients wait.”

The government said it was providing an additional £800 million to the health service this winter.