The number of people in England waiting to start routine hospital treatment has risen to a new record high.
A total of 6.1 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of December 2021, NHS England said.
This is the highest number since records began in August 2007.
The number of people having to wait more than 52 weeks to start treatment stood at 310,813 in December 2021, up from 306,996 in the previous month and 39% higher than the number in December 2020.
The government and NHS England have set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than a year by March 2025.
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