Sunak ‘highly unlikely’ to meet promise to cut NHS waiting lists, warn health leaders

Sobering' analysis suggests backlog will rise to 8 million next summer after a decade of underinvestment in the NHS

Rishi Sunak is highly unlikely" to meet his promise to cut NHS waiting lists, health leaders have warned, as a sobering" analysis suggests the backlog will rise to 8 million and won't begin to fall until next summer.

The prime minister vowed in January that NHS waiting lists will fall" as he outlined five pledges upon which he staked his premiership. The backlog was 7.2 million at the time. It is now 7.75 million, the highest since records began in 2007.