The number of people waiting to start routine hospital treatment in England has reached a new record high.
In its latest release of data, NHS England said 7.6 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of June.
That is up from 7.5 million in May.
It is also the highest number since records began in August 2007.
By the end of June, 383,083 people had been waiting more than 52 weeks to start routine hospital treatment, down a little from 385,022 at the end of May.
The number estimated to have been waiting more than 18 months was 7,177 at the end of June, compared to 11,446 at the end of May.
Both the government and NHS England set an ambition of eliminating all waits of more than 18 months by April this year.
However, that excluded exceptionally complex cases or where patients chose to wait longer.
Strikes by junior doctors have had a considerable impact on elective appointments and procedures.
Three days of junior doctors’ strikes in June led to 106,120 postponements, NHS England said.
It added: “To date, around 778,000 hospital appointments across the NHS have been rescheduled due to strike action.”
Consultants have also been taking industrial action, while junior doctors are due to begin their fifth round of strikes on Friday morning.
