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Figures for December showed of the 6,067,326 patients caught in England’s backlog, 2.2 million had been waiting for longer than the target of 18 weeks.

The number of people on the list for more than year had risen by 3,800 to more than 310,000 since November. And the number waiting for over two years was up by 1,480 to 20,000.

The figures cover planned procedures such as hip replacements and cataract surgery.

NHS England said the data was from the time when it was pulling out all the stops to get booster jabs rolled out. December and January also saw the most staff absences on record, with 5.8 million sick days – 38 per cent of which were linked to Covid.

Prof Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “We are now beginning to see the full picture of the Omicron winter on the NHS.”

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