The health minister says that patients on the waiting lists should be made to improve their own health

Doctors are forced to cancel 135,000 surgical procedures on the day each year. Centre for Perioperative Care says doctors are forced into canceling 135,500 procedures. This is at a cost of £400million in lost theatre time, it is claimed. Patients on NHS waiting lists'should be made to improve own health'

More than 163,000 patients in England have endured delays of at least 18 weeks. Up on 32,000 in February 2020, month before Covid rocked Britain. This is up on the 32,00 in February 2019, when Covid hit Britain. Number of patients waiting 18 weeks for NHS heart care soars to all-time high.

Some improvements have been made on A&E waiting times, response times to suspected cancer, and ambulance response times - but often still fell far below NHS targets. NHS waiting lists are 'higher than we want them to be,' says health minister. Some improvements were made but often fell far behind NHS targets, he says.

Charity says it has made increase after 75 per cent surge in callers in February compared with same month last year. Charity says increase in number of callers has been made after increase in February. British Heart Foundation triples helpline nurses as NHS waiting lists rise.