Private sector’s role in cutting NHS waiting lists in England to rise by 20%

Keir Starmer takes questions from the media about his plan to reduce NHS waiting lists in England. Photograph: Leon Neal/PA

Private hospitals will provide NHS patients in England with as many as a million extra appointments, scans and operations a year as part of the government’s drive to end the care backlog.

The move represents a significant expansion of the independent sector’s role in helping the health service tackle the long waits for treatment that built up under the Conservatives.