Surgical operations to be cut back in England as £1bn bailout call fails

Ministers give NHS England just a tenth of sum, forcing leaders to scale back drive to tackle hospital waiting list of 7 million

Hospitals will reduce the number of operations they perform over the next few months after ministers rejected an NHS plea for 1bn to cover the cost of strikes by staff.

The move makes it even more unlikely that Rishi Sunak will be able to deliver his promise to cut NHS waiting lists, one of the five key pledges he said voters should judge him by.