THE Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has apologised for the waiting times endured by some of its patients, after a Freedom of Information request revealed that one person was kept on standby for almost three years.

More than 23,000 people in England have been waiting for NHS care for more than two years, the PA news agency reports.

The longest period an NHS patient in Somerset had to wait to be seen to start treatment after being referred was 152 weeks – in this case by the colorectal surgery department.

However, figures also showed that there were no patients waiting for more than three years (156 weeks) or for more than four years (208 weeks) at the trust.

Xanthe Whittaker, director of elective care, said: “We would like to apologise to anyone who has had to wait longer for planned operations than we would like.

“While we have continued to provide the most urgent care to our patients throughout the pandemic, there has inevitably been an impact on waiting times as routine care has been disrupted for much of this period.

“We know how important the care we provide for people is, and we are working as fast as we can to see people and reduce waiting times.

“All our teams are working extremely hard to ensure we continue to provide safe and compassionate care.

“Colleagues are also working hard to provide additional weekend capacity in a number of surgical specialties.”

PA’s Freedom of Information request was sent to 125 non-specialist acute hospital trusts in England.