Sajid Javid has denied that a long-awaited plan to tackle the NHS backlog - which was due to announced today - has been put on hold because the Treasury blocked it.
Speaking to Kay Burley on Sky News, the health secretary rejected reports of increasing tensions between Downing Street and the Treasury, saying the plan "is not coming today because we had a roadblock with Omicron".
Mr Javid said because of the Omicron variant, the government "rightly changed our focus to boosters" and that the plan to tackle the NHS backlog will be published "shortly".
He also warned that "waiting lists are going to continue to grow" and that it is "hard to say" when things will improve.
But Mr Javid said officials are "doing everything we can to get services back up and running" as the country recovers from the pandemic.
Live updates as health secretary faces questions over NHS backlog plan
His comments come after reports in The Daily Telegraph suggested the Treasury refused to sign off the NHS backlog plans in a last-minute intervention over the weekend, calling off Monday's publication of the National Recovery Plan for the health service.
The Telegraph report contained sources citing concerns over value for money after deadlines for hitting treatment targets slipped because of the Omicron surge.
Sky News' political correspondent Tamara Cohen said NHS figures are saying that they were expecting a fuller plan.
A government spokesperson told Sky News: "We of course want value for taxpayer's money and any delay is a working through of final details."
Nearly six million people in England were waiting to start routine hospital treatment in November, with NHS figures showing that 5.7 million people were on waiting lists at the end of August - the highest figure since records began in August 2007.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Mr Javid had been due to make an announcement today as evidence of the government's determination to tackle hospital delays due to the COVID pandemic.
The health secretary did reveal on Sky News that patients will be able to compare hospital waiting times through the NHS app and receive information about non-urgent procedures.
"Every individual on the waiting list will be able to see where they are on the list," Mr Javid said, adding that the government want to "provide as much transparency as possible" to people in regard to the backlog.
Big week ahead for under-pressure PM
The delay to the PM and Mr Javid's plan comes after five Number 10 aides resigned last week in the wake of the "partygate" scandal.
And another two Conservative MPs also called for Mr Johnson to quit on Friday - with Nick Gibb and Aaron Bell both submitting letters of no confidence in his leadership.
This brings the total number of MPs who have now publicly called for the PM to go to 14 - although not all have formally communicated this to the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady.
A confidence vote will be triggered if Sir Graham receives letters from 54 MPs - 15% of the parliamentary party.
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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMieWh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2JvcmlzLWpvaG5zb24tYW5kLXNhamlkLWphdmlkcy1wbGFuLXRvLXRhY2tsZS1uaHMtYmFja2xvZy1kZWxheWVkLWJ5LXRyZWFzdXJ5LXJlcG9ydHMtMTI1MzUwODfSAX1odHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAvYm9yaXMtam9obnNvbi1hbmQtc2FqaWQtamF2aWRzLXBsYW4tdG8tdGFja2xlLW5ocy1iYWNrbG9nLWRlbGF5ZWQtYnktdHJlYXN1cnktcmVwb3J0cy0xMjUzNTA4Nw?oc=5
2022-02-07 07:41:15Z
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