Speaking to The Health Foundation, Milburn said it was ‘absurd' and a ‘real erosion of confidence' that 7 million people were on the waiting list.

The latest NHSE figures show NHS waiting lists fell to a 26-month low of 7.36m in May.

Labour has set the target of treating 92% of patients within 18 weeks of referral by the end of this Parliament with an interim target of 65% by March 2026.

Milburn said the Government would also need to end the ‘madness of the 8am scramble' in many parts of the country.

‘I think people concluded at the last General Election that the NHS and the country was moving in the wrong direction,' Milburn noted.

‘By the time of the next election, the conclusion has got to be that it's moving in the right direction, both for the NHS and for the country as a whole.'

The former health and social care secretary described the 10-Year Health Plan, which he co-authored, as a ‘three plus seven plan'.

In the first three years, he said the Government needed to address the ‘basic fundamentals', including waiting lists, and lay the foundations for long-term transformation in terms of digital adoption and prevention.

‘The further seven years, probably post the next General Election, is really about driving those reforms even further and faster,' he said.