The NHS will receive a £200m boost from the government ahead of the busiest months of the year for them.

The winter resilience fund is aimed at supporting the health service so it can attend to patients as quickly as possible amid record waiting lists.

Last month, NHS England said 7.6 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of June – the highest number since records began in August 2007.

The additional money will help hospitals keep up with pre-planned surgeries and operations to cut down the list, according to officials.

Both the government and NHS England set an ambition of eliminating all waits of more than 18 months by April this year.

However, that excluded exceptionally complex cases or where patients chose to wait longer.

Winter is a hectic time for the NHS with COVID, flu, and respiratory illnesses common during the season, with some health commentators saying last winter was one of the worst on record for the health service.

They welcomed the extra cash but have questioned how far it will stretch amid upcoming strikes by doctors and consultants.

For the first time in NHS history, joint walkouts were announced over pay disputes.

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Alongside the winter fund, the government announced a £40m investment in social care, with local authorities being urged to bid for a share of the cash.

Ministers also injected £250m into the NHS last month as part of the two-year Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery plan which promised 5,000 additional beds, 800 new ambulances, and 10,000 virtual wards.

Officials said progress has been made compared to last July including faster emergency ambulance response times and more availability of general, acute, and virtual beds.

NHS England had also announced plans to introduce social care “traffic control centres” to help speed up hospital discharges for patients no longer needing to be in the wards.

Speaking about the new subsidy, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Winter is the most challenging time for the health service, which is why we’ve been planning for it all year – with huge government investment to fund new ambulances, beds and virtual wards.

“This extra £200 million will bolster the health service during its busiest period, while protecting elective care so we can keep cutting waiting lists.”