Susan Deacon: "The phoney war is over"

The executive already has a maximum waiting times policy for those suffering from heart disease, cancer and mental illness.

Ms Deacon said that these targets, backed up by a range of local targets set by NHS boards, would now be at the heart of regular updates.

"Nothing is more important to patients than the length of time they have to wait for treatment," she said.

"The impact on a patient's health - and on their well-being - of fast, effective testing, diagnosis and treatment is incalculable.

"The pain and disillusionment when the NHS fails to deliver timely care can have just as significant an impact."

It would be far more honest if the minister just could bring herself to admit she has been forced into it by her own failure to deliver

Mary Scanlon, Scottish Conservatives

She said waiting lists only provided "a snapshot in time" without saying how long patients were waiting or giving information about the seriousness of their condition.

"Too much of the dialogue around waiting lists has been more to do with points-scoring than patient satisfaction. Rhetoric rather than real improvements.

"The phoney war on waiting is over.

"We are stepping up our war on waiting by stepping up our actions to reduce and scrutinise waiting times. What matters is what works for patients."

'No climbdown'

And she added: "Some will seek to portray this shift from waiting lists to waiting times as a climbdown or a watering down of our commitment to tackle waiting.

"Nothing could be further from the truth."

Ms Deacon said waiting list information would still be collected and the health service would be expected to continue working to reduce those lists.

The executive has today been big enough to admit that in the past they got it wrong

Dr John Garner, BMA

Figures published on Thursday showed that waiting lists had increased by 1.9% since March.

But some 3,000 fewer patients in Scotland were waiting for operations on 30 June than at the same time last year.

NHS Scotland chief executive Trevor Jones said the trend was not unexpected.

"I am pleased also to report that for the second successive quarter no patient with a guarantee in Scotland waited longer than 12 months for treatment - a major improvement on a year ago when over 500 were waiting over a year," he added.

The move was also welcomed as "a victory for common sense" by the British Medical Association.

'Life or death'

Dr John Garner, the BMA Scottish council chairman, said: "For many patients, how long they have to wait can make the difference between life and death.

"Waiting lists, in contrast, have only ever meant life or death to the political career of ministers."

He added: "The executive has today been big enough to admit that in the past they got it wrong."

The SNP's Nicola Sturgeon attacked the move

But the SNP labelled the move "an entirely new approach to government accountability".

Health spokeswoman Nicola Sturgeon said: "If you fail to meet a target, forget about explaining where you have gone wrong and how you intend to work harder to put it right - simply abandon the target and think up a new one.

"No wonder more and more people are losing faith in politicians. This is nothing more than a cynical attempt by New Labour to make life easier for Susan Deacon.

"Labour's promise to cut waiting lists by 10,000 by 2002 was one of their five key pledges in 1997 and it was repeated in the Scottish Parliament elections in 1999.

Government pledge

"I think people in Scotland have the right to expect the government to deliver on that pledge."

Ms Sturgeon added: "The reality is that waiting times have risen under Labour as well. If Labour continues to fail to get waiting times down as well as they have failed to get waiting lists down, what will happen?

"Will they simply abandon that target as well?"

Scottish Tory health spokeswoman Mary Scanlon said the minister had been forced into a "humiliating" u-turn.

She added: "Instead of attempting to dress today's move up as an innocent change of heart, it would be far more honest if the minister just could bring herself to admit she has been forced into it by her own failure to deliver."