Department of Health figures show that inpatient waiting lists fell by 20,000 in October - the sixth monthly drop in a row.

But, between June and September, there was an increase of around 16% in number of outpatients waiting over 26 weeks for a first appointment.

The Institute of Health Services Management says 126,000 people have been waiting over 26 weeks for a first outpatient appointment and 437,000 have been waiting more than 13 weeks.

Karen Caines, director of the IHSM, said: "Naturally, the drop in people waiting to be admitted as inpatients is welcome news.

"But it is the total patient experience that counts. The drive to reduce inpatient waiting times cannot be at the expense of other NHS patients.

"The rise in the number of outpatients in not acceptable and needs to be kept under control," she said.

NHS managers have welcomed the extra government spending to keep down inpatient waiting lists.

But they say it will not be until next year that the NHS will begin to see an impact from the extra £21bn promised for wider healthcare issues as part of the government's comprehensive spending review.

Political targets

The Conservatives have also attacked the waiting list numbers, saying they had risen by 220,000 since the general election.

They say people are waiting longer than the government claims because they do not go on official lists until they have had their first outpatient appointment.

Conservative health spokesman Philip Hammond called the inpatient waiting list targets "political" and led to surgeons spending more time in the operating theatre and less time in out-patient clinics.

"Frank Dobson can claim the waiting list for surgery is falling only because he is making patients wait in an ever-lengthening queue of misery to get on them," he said.

The government, however, dismissed Tory claims, saying the way waiting lists figures were compiled had not changed since the Conservatives were in power.

Sources close to ministers said: "This is a pathetic Tory slur on the success of NHS staff.

"The Tories have made repeated allegations that the lists are being fiddled.

"Every single one of those allegations has been investigated and found to be untrue."

Confounding the doubters

Government figures show the total number of inpatients waiting for treatment has fallen by 119,000 since April. There are now 1,193,483 people on NHS hospital inpatient waiting lists.

There was also a drop during October of 2,400 in the number of patients waiting more than 12 months for inpatient hospital treatment.

Frank Dobson: paid tribute to NHS staff

Health Secretary Frank Dobson said: "For six months in a row, NHS staff all over the country have delivered fall after fall in NHS waiting lists.

"They've confounded the doubters. This success is a credit both to their skill and to their dedication."

Mr Dobson said the NHS was now well on course to meet the government's target of reducing waiting lists by 100,000 from the level inherited from the Conservative government.