The number of people in England waiting to start routine hospital treatment has fallen slightly, figures show.
An estimated 7.71 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of October, relating to 6.44 million patients.
This is down from a record 7.77 million treatments and 6.50 million patients at the end of September, NHS England said.
However, the number of people who have been waiting more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment is up to 10,506 – up 3% compared to the 10,201 figure recorded in September.
The Government and NHS England set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than 18 months by April this year, excluding exceptionally complex cases or patients who choose to wait longer.
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