The NHS has begun offering care at alternative hospital sites to more than 100 patients in Suffolk and north Essex who have been waiting more than two years for treatment.

On Monday, the healthcare provider announced that patients could be treated anywhere in the country in an effort to clear a backlog that had built up during the COVID-19 pandemic when operations were postponed to enable hospital staff to deal with the virus.

In May, nearly 300 people in Suffolk and north Essex had been on a waiting list for more than two years- with most at West Suffolk Hospital and the remainder at East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) hospitals at Ipswich and Colchester.

However, this number has since been reduced, with ESNEFT reporting 50 patients being offered alternative sites, while West Suffolk Hospital is reporting 66 being given a choice, although some have opted to remain at the Bury St Edmunds hospital.

ESNEFT chief executive Nick Hulme said the new system would enable much closer collaboration between colleagues at the Ipswich, Colchester and West Suffolk hospitals.

If a department at one hospital had more capacity than the others, patients could be offered the chance to be seen there instead of at their nearest hospital, although there would be no obligation to go elsewhere.

Mr Hulme said the priority was patient choice and support could be provided if necessary to enable people to attend at an alternative site, which could include providing transport if this was likely to be an issue.

These potential provisions would be discussed with patients, he added.

He added: “What has been announced today is in a sense finalising the process that we have been working on over the last few months so patients have been moving between Ipswich and Colchester and also, we have been helping our colleagues at West Suffolk Hospital.

“We are all keen to reduce the waiting times as quickly as we can.”

West Suffolk NHS Foundation executive chief operating officer Nicola Cottington said: “Due to the pandemic, waiting lists have increased and we are sorry to every patient who experiences a delay to their care.

“Our staff are doing everything they can to treat patients as quickly and safely as possible, prioritising those with the greatest clinical need.

“We continue to work closely with our NHS healthcare partners and the independent sector to increase capacity where possible and many patients have benefitted from this collaboration.”