NHS set to receive 4% budget rise but health chiefs say it may not be enough

A multibillion-pound uplift for the NHS is likely to be hailed by the government as a significant step in paving the way for repairing the service after 14 years under the Conservatives. Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA

The NHS is set to get an inflation-busting 4% rise in its budget next year but health chiefs have said it may not allow them to cut waiting lists for another 18 months, the Guardian has learned.

The health service is on course to be one of the big winners in Rachel Reeves’s spending review on 30 October if it gets a proposed 4% real-terms uplift from the Treasury.