Speaking during the NHS Providers conference in Manchester, Sir Jim said ‘even after six months of the year on electives, we are there or thereabouts on the scale of the operation'.

The NHSE chief executive's comments came after health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said the Government was on target to reach its standard target for 18 weeks by the end of the Parliament.

Sir Jim said the achievement, along with progress on urgent care and the delivery of neighbourhood health, would be looked back on ‘as an absolutely enormous miracle' in 20 years' time.

The Health Foundation has forecast the Government will fall just short of its flagship NHS target of ensuring 92% of patients waiting less than 18 weeks by the end of Parliament. The Government has also set the interim target of 65% of patients being seen within 18 weeks for March 2026.

Speaking after Streeting had also confirmed funding had been found for ICB redundancies to progress, Sir Jim said: ‘Technically what's happening, is we're reprofiling the Spending Review, which means we've got permission to pull forward some resource from next year and the year after into this year to fund redundancies'.

Commenting on whether he will be out of job shortly now that a two-year frame for NHSE abolition had been confirmed, Sir Jim said: ‘I've committed to do a period of time to help stabilise and get some things in place to enable the transition to a more substantive arrangement and that's a live conversation.

‘I'm not in it long term. There's no secret about that.'

Addressing the rising number of racist attacks on NHS staff, Sir Jim added: ‘It's been around for too long. It's been getting worse the last few years. It's unacceptable and we're going to make a stand on it.'