DHSC said 6.15m appointments, tests and operations were delivered by independent providers for NHS patients this year.

Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘I'll do everything I can to get NHS patients treated faster, free at the point of use.

‘This is a principled, progressive position, not just a pragmatic one. We're not prepared to continue two-tier healthcare, when those who can afford it get treated on time, and those who can't are left behind. Wealth shouldn't determine health.'

Using spare capacity in the private sector is central to the government's goal that 92% of patients in England should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment.

Other measures to tackle waiting lists include:

• opening more CDCs seven days a week, 12 hours a day which have delivered over 8.7m diagnostic tests since July 2024
• opening new 22 new surgical hubs and expanding a further 12
• introducing a national programme of weekend High-Intensity Theatre lists once a month in 50 hospitals to get through a week's worth of planned operations in a day
• setting up NHS Online, which will deliver up to 8.5m appointments in its first three years and allow patients to digitally connect to expert clinicians anywhere in England.

Evidence shows patients requiring general surgery such as a hernia operation could cut their wait from an average of 27 weeks to just 6 weeks – a reduction of almost five months - by travelling from the areas with the longest waiting times to shortest.