Thousands of patients were waiting for routine treatment at Southern Health in September, figures show.

It comes as Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the NHS is "now on the road to recovery" as waiting lists dropped slightly across England.

NHS England figures show 3,983 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust at the end of September – down from 4,152 in August, but an increase on 3,420 in September 2024.

None of those had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at Southern Health was seven weeks at the end of September – the same as in August.

Nationally, an estimated 7.4 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of September, relating to 6.2 million patients. It was down slightly from the number of treatments and patients at the end of August.

Just over 2% of people on the list for hospital treatment had been waiting more than 52 weeks in September, also a slight fall from the previous month.

The Government and NHS England are aiming to bring this figure to under 1% by March 2026.

Mr Streeting said: "Thanks to the investment and modernisation this Government has made, waiting lists are falling and patients are being treated sooner.

"We are cutting waste to reinvest billions over the coming years in frontline care – less unnecessary bureaucracy and more services for patients.

"And at the Budget the Chancellor is protecting investment in the NHS, to rebuild after more than a decade of decline.

“The past year is the first time in 15 years that waiting lists have fallen. There’s a long way to go, but the NHS is now on the road to recovery."

Separate figures show 1.7 million patients in England were waiting for a key diagnostic test in September – the same as in August.

At Southern Health, 3,148 patients were waiting for one of nine standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 42 (1%) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Tim Gardner, assistant director of policy at the Health Foundation, said: "While figures for September show a slight decrease in the elective waiting list to 7.4 million, and a welcome reduction in waiting times, restoring the 18-week standard by the end of this parliament remains a tall order."

He added an "urgent resolution" to the five-day resident doctors' strike beginning on Friday is also vital.