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An influential parliamentary report has warned that the National Health Service has been unable to cut treatment delays as promised in its recovery plan despite billions of pounds in financial support.

Serious Doubts Over Central Promise to the Public

The powerful government watchdog's assessment raises serious doubts over whether the current government can deliver on its central promise to voters to "repair the NHS" by ensuring patients can once again get hospital care within 18 weeks by 2029.

"Improvements in reducing treatment delays appears to have halted, with the total elective care backlog standing at 7.4 million patient cases," the analysis indicates.

Major Discoveries from the Report

• Key NHS targets to enhance availability to both scheduled treatment and medical scans by last spring "weren't achieved"
• Substantial investment of £3.24bn in local testing facilities and operating centers has not achieved the aim of cutting waiting times
• Thousands of patients continue to remain at least a year for care, despite promises to eradicate this situation entirely
• Significant percentage of patients are waiting more than six weeks for diagnostic tests

Political Reactions and Concerns

The report's negative assessment differs significantly with the positive portrayal of progress in the NHS that government officials have recently painted.

Opposition parties have described the circumstances as "a shambles" and warned that the report should "raise serious concerns" within the administration.

"Every unnecessary day that a individual spends on an NHS treatment queue is both a source of growing worry for that person's unresolved case and, if they are without a diagnosis, a steady increasing of risk to their life," stated a committee representative.

Healthcare Experts Voice Worries

Healthcare charity leaders stated that the findings "lay bare what patients have felt for over a decade: despite billions being spent, the NHS is still not delivering the timely care people desperately need."

Policy experts added that the report "only adds to the steady drumbeat of information that the UK is falling behind other national healthcare systems in bouncing back after the pandemic."

Government Response

A spokesperson for the health department supported the administration's performance, stating: "This government took over a struggling health service, with waiting lists soaring and planned treatments in dire need of updating."

They added: "For the first time in over a decade treatment backlogs are decreasing. Through unprecedented funding and modernisation, we've reduced waiting lists by over two hundred thousand and smashed our target for additional appointments."

Regardless of these claims, the report suggests that reaching the administration's waiting time targets will be "neither quick nor easy."