Steve Barclay addressed the Health and Social Care Committee as nursing strikes continue across the UK.
It comes as it emerged that industrial action has disrupted more than 88,000 appointments, according to NHS Providers.
The health minister was expected to be quizzed on a delay by the Department of Health and Social Care to submit evidence on next year’s pay award for more than one million NHS workers.
According to NHS figures, around 7.19 million people in England were waiting for routine hospital treatment at the end of November.
Strikes are planned to continue through February, with nursing, physiotherapy, and paramedic staff among those taking action.,
To date, the government has insisted that the finances are not there to grant the salary increases that have been demanded.
Strikers are calling for their wages to be adjusted in line with inflation amid a severe cost of living crisis.
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