Thousands on waiting lists at highly-rated hospitals

Thousands of people are waiting for medical treatment in Sunderland and South Tyneside despite local hospitals being ranked among the best in the country for seeing patients promptly.

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NHS England figures show 57,665 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust at the end of May-up slightly from 57,403 in April, but a decrease on 61,701 in May last year.

Of those, 27 had been waiting for longer than a year.