NHS will 'break' without 'war footing' plan to tackle backlog, warns Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak is set to warn that the NHS will 'break' without a 'war footing' plan to tackle the backlog of patients, as he tries to walk away from the debate over the taxation which has dominated the Tory leadership race.< /p>

The former chancellor will insist on Saturday that the public 'shouldn't have to make a choice with a gun to their head', saying that people and using money "they can't really afford" following NHS delays.

In his first major speech since reaching the final stage of the leadership race, Mr Sunak will also describe the backlog facing the NHS as the ‘biggest public service emergency’ facing the country.

Figures from May showed 6 .6 million patients were waiting for planned care. Sajid Javid, the former health secretary, warned earlier this year that NHS waiting lists would continue to rise until at least 2024.

Under existing plans, the government and NHS England are aiming to eliminate all waits exceeding one year. by March 2025.

Presenting his proposals, Mr. Sunak will commit to eliminating one-year expectations six months ahead of schedule, by September 2024, and ensuring that overall numbers are falling by 2023. It also pledges to aim to ensure that anyone waiting longer than 18 weeks is contacted by an NHS trust within 100 days.

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Mr. Sunak will say on Saturday that the creation of a "backlog task force" with independent leadership will reduce bureaucracy and waste and "make the most of our Covid experience".

But his promises come just days after experts told The Independent that a £2billion cut to NHS budgets, caused by the government's unfunded pay deal for staff, would reduce cancer backlogs and patient care.

< p>Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting asked: "If Rishi Sunak thinks NHS waiting lists are an emergency, why don't we hasn't done anything as chancellor?

"He says he wants to put the NHS on a 'war footing', but the Tories have spent years disarming him."

Danny Mortimer, deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederati on, welcomed Mr Sunak's focus on the backlog, but said told The Independent that the plan "cannot honestly be described as putting the NHS on a war footing".

He stressed that the ability to cope with the waiting list is plagued by a growing staff shortage, as well as "the collapse of infrastructure and estates, and the impact of a welfare crisis".

Mr. Mortimer added: "These risks are heightened by the government's refusal to fully fund the new wage contract. Despite these challenges, the NHS in England this year faces its first funding cut in real terms since 1997, due to unexpected cost shocks and runaway inflation. This reality is not addressed in Mr. Sunak's plan.

"If any of the Conservative leadership candidates really intend improve the care that patients received...