The government has announced funding to support the delivery of an extra two million NHS operations, scans and appointments a year in bid to cut waiting lists.

Ahead of tomorrow's budget, the chancellor has confirmed that that the NHS will receive the funding needed to deliver an extra 40,000 elective appointments per week.

The funding includes an additional £1.8bn the government has invested in elective activity this year since the July Statement.

The plans will be supported by a significant uplift of capital investment, with new capacity including surgical hubs and scanners, meaning thousands of additional procedures and millions of diagnostic tests across the country, alongside funding for new radiotherapy machines to improve cancer treatment.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "Our NHS is the lifeblood of Britain. It exemplifies public services at their best, there for us when we need it and free at the point of use, for everyone in this country.

"That’s why I am putting an end to the neglect and underinvestment it has seen for over a decade now.

"We will be known as the government that took the NHS from its worst crisis in its history, got it back on its feet again and made it fit for the bright future ahead of it."

Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said: "Our NHS is broken, but it’s not beaten, and this Budget is the moment we start to fix it.

"The Chancellor is backing the NHS with new investment to cut waiting lists, which stand at an unacceptable 7.6 million today. Alongside extra funding, we’re sending crack teams of top surgeons to hospitals across the country, to reform how they run their surgeries, treat more patients, and make the money go further."