David Stout, director of the NHS Confederation's Primary Care Trust Network, said claims made by the Cooperation and Competition Panel (CCP) that primary care trusts (PCTs) are extending waiting times in the hope that patients opt to go private or potentially die while waiting "cause unnecessary public anxiety and alarm".
"Making claims without evidence that patients are dying as a result of longer waiting lists will cause unnecessary public anxiety and alarm. Commissioners take very seriously their role to ensure that patient health is not put at risk waiting for the care they need.
"We need to be very clear that patients currently have access to high quality NHS care; care that has improved significantly over the past decade. The current average waiting time from referral to treatment on the NHS for routine elective care is eight weeks - a significant improvement from ten years ago when it was not unusual for people to wait 18 months.
"The CCP report rightly highlights that there are some areas of the country where financial pressures have led to an increase in waiting times as a result of demand growing faster than available funding. However, even in these areas waiting times remain within the 18 week maximum.
"It is also important to understand that these are routine cases, rather than emergency cases. Nevertheless, these patients should still be seen and treated as quickly as possible since their quality of life may be affected or they may be in pain because of their condition. The NHS has made great strides to reduce waiting times for routine care and will want to maintain this.
"As financial constraints loom over the NHS, commissioners are finding they have to make difficult decisions about priorities while seeking to maintain high-quality services. But where these decisions are being made it is essential primary care trusts and doctors are clear with their patients and local communities from the outset about what services are and are not available to them, and how long they can expect to wait for treatment."