UK's Johnson says tackling health service waiting lists is a real priority

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said tackling waiting lists for operations in England's national health service (NHS) was a real priority after data showed 4.7 million people were waiting for routine procedures, the highest number since 2007.

"This is a real priority now for our country, 4.7 million people on waiting lists," he told broadcasters on Thursday.

"We will make sure we give the NHS all the funding that it needs, as we have done throughout the pandemic, to beat the backlog."