CAMPAIGNERS hammered home the urgent need to pay healthcare staff fairly and end the “blatant failure” of relying on the private sector, after the government fell short of its key NHS targets — yet again.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made cutting NHS waiting lists a key pledge in January last year, but since then numbers have gone up by 330,000.

According to the latest figures, there are 7.54 million outstanding treatments.