More than 60 per cent of patients at the busiest hospitals have waited at least 18 weeks for routine procedures, MailOnline can reveal today.
This is five times longer than at the quietest hospitals, our analysis found.
Under the NHS’s own rulebook, anyone referred for treatment by their GP has the legal right to be seen within that timeframe.
But not a single trust is meeting the target of ensuring 92 per cent of patients are seen within 18 weeks. Nationally, hospitals in England haven’t met this target in seven years.
Politicians and experts today said the figures — crunched into a handy…