More than 1,200 patients are facing radiology reporting waits of more than six weeks, hospital bosses have been told – and one has been waiting more than 13 weeks.

Some patients are now being told there is a 12-week backlog for radiology reporting, health campaigner Ian Syme told the UHNM (University Hospitals of North Midlands) NHS Trust board.

Radiology reporting currently has one of the highest risk scores at UHNM which runs Royal Stoke and Stafford's County Hospitals, according to a report presented to the board.

In a question to Wednesday's board meeting, Mr Syme said: "For several years radiology reporting has, intermittently, been subject to delay.

"UHNM's BAF (Board Assurance Framework) shows for MSK (musculoskeletal) radiology reporting the RAG risk Q3 (quarter three – October to December) to be red 20 – an increase from Q2 (July to September) red 16 and reporting for all adult radiology remaining at high RAG red 16.

"For all radiology reporting the target risk score is low 4, which requires very significant improvement in radiology reporting.

"UHNM have invested significant sums over the years in an attempt to vastly improve radiology reporting including the use of external providers. I am told that UHNM is now telling patients that there's a 12-week backlog for radiology reporting.

"What is the present backlog for radiology reporting and what further mitigations are required to ensure that radiology reporting is timely and not as at present protracted?"

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Katy Thorpe, Interim Chief Operating Officer at UHNM, responded: "Our current backlog of patients waiting for radiology is 12,683, but that's all patients – 1,266 patients have waited over six weeks.

"Our average time for body reports is 12.4 days – considerably truncated. Musculoskeletal and neuro reports are particularly the issue – average reporting is 36 days at the moment and the longest wait is 87 days.

"That's a reducing trend. We're doing some work with the radiology team on how we prioritise reporting."

The meeting heard that some patients with complex cases had been waiting longer than other patients. But some cases were being dealt with by an external provider, enabling internal teams to focus on more complex cases.

In October it was reported that the number of patients waiting for an ultrasound test at UHNM had been slashed by 5,000 in just four months. More than 15,500 people were waiting for a non-obstetric ultrasounds, but this figure fell to just 10,563.

Ultrasound has accounted for the vast majority of long waits for diagnostic tests at UHNM, with some patients being driven to pay up to £300 in the private sector. Others have been offered appointments at Cannock Chase Hospital, which is 25 miles away.