The trust running Royal Stoke University Hospital has been awarded an extra £2m by NHS England after cutting waiting times for patients having planned non-urgent medical treatment.

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) delivered one of the strongest improvements in elective care performance in the country last year.

In a letter congratulating the trust, Sir James Mackey, Chief Executive of NHS England, said: "Your organisation has delivered the eighth-largest improvement in RTT (referral to treatment) performance nationally between April and September 2025 of all acute providers, and met all supplementary criteria to reduce waiting lists and deliver your plans, including for your longest waiting patients.

"This is an outstanding achievement that reflects the sustained commitment and hard work of your clinical and operational teams. Your progress sets a strong example for other providers across the country."

The performance improvement has led to an additional £2m capital funding being awarded to the trust. But the trust is currently forecast to end the current financial year with a £6.9m deficit, a financial report to the UHNM board said.

In his report to Wednesday's UHNM board meeting (February 11), the trust's chief executive Dr Simon Constable said: "Despite the continued challenges in urgent and emergency care, it is important that we take (a) moment to recognise progress, celebrate success and acknowledge the hard work of everyone working together in pursuit of excellence.

"I am delighted that we have secured an additional £2m in capital funding from NHS England after delivering one of the strongest improvements in elective care performance anywhere in the country.

"This success comes from the first round of the 2025/26 National Elective Care Capital Incentive Scheme, which rewards significant, sustained progress in reducing patient waits.

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"Between April and September 2025, we achieved the eighth-largest improvement in Referral-to-Treatment (RTT) performance nationally of all acute trusts — while also meeting key criteria to reduce long waits.

"The £2m will be used flexibly by us to support further transformation and improve access to care for patients across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent and beyond.

"This is national recognition of the exceptional effort being made by everyone every day, despite the pressures we face, and is something of which we should all feel immensely proud."

Dr Constable added that the trust still had much work to do to improve waiting times further however, particularly in cases where patients have waited more than a year for elective treatment.

Figures presented to the board on Wednesday revealed that the number of patients waiting 65 weeks or more increased from 46 to 66 in December – and there were three patients who had waited 78 weeks or more.

Dr Constable said: "Whilst we are cautiously marking national recognition, it is also good to acknowledge small improvements in our position in the NHS league tables, published in December by NHS England.

"The performance tables are designed to give patients, the public and NHS colleagues a clearer view of how trusts across the country are performing as part of a wider commitment to transparency and accountability, allowing people to explore how organisations compare both overall and within individual services.

"The NHS is placing a strong focus on financial recovery, any trust in deficit is automatically placed into segment three, regardless of wider performance – this is where UHNM currently sits.

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"Within this group, we ranked 79 out of 134 acute and specialist trusts for quarter two, a slight improvement from 83 last quarter.

"While our league table position reminds us that we have more to do, the elective care funding — and the performance improvement behind it — shows that we are moving in the right direction.

"We will continue focusing on improving urgent and emergency care, reducing our longest waits and strengthening performance across all services."