Half a million hospital appointments and operations avoided being cancelled in the second half of last year due to government action to end resident doctor strikes within four weeks of office.

The strike action caused 507,000 appointment and operation cancellations and/or reschedulings between July 2023 and February 2024, and NHS England analysis shows this added 140,000 more to the waiting lists inherited by the government.

On the first day in government, the health and social care secretary hosted a round table with resident doctor, securing a fair deal for patients and staff after four weeks, and getting doctors back on the frontline treating patients.

Resident doctors play a huge role in healthcare, making up half of the medical workforce, and so patients greatly felt the difference when strike action came to an end.

Cutting waiting lists is one of this government’s key priorities to reform the NHS, and since July, over two million extra appointments have been delivered, the waiting list slashed by 193,000.

Wes Streeting, health and social care secretary, said: “Half a million operations stopped because of strike action weren’t just an inconvenience. They meant hundreds of thousands of patients living through more pain, more stress and more disappointment.

“That’s exactly why within days of coming into office, I got round the table with resident doctors and put an end to these crippling strikes.

“It was a tough negotiation, but we came out with a fair offer, and patients immediately started seeing the benefit.

“Thanks to this government putting doctors back on the frontline, we’ve cut waiting lists by 193,000. We are fixing the broken foundations of our NHS through our Plan for Change so patents can get back to work and doing what they love.”