Cuts in waiting lists, increased capacity and better treatments for patients in the NHS were hailed by the Government yesterday.

NHS Chief Executive Sir Nigel Crisp said there had been a "sustained and accelerating" turnaround in the health service.

In his report for 2003/04 he said productivity in the NHS had improved in England thanks to an extra £5.9bn, different ways of working and the hard work of staff.

But critics accused the Government of complacency and of glossing over bad examples of patient care in the health service while concentrating only on the good.

Sir Nigel confirmed that the Government had hit its target that no patient should be waiting more than nine months for an operation by April 1.

The latest waiting list figures for March showed that only 48 people were waiting longer than nine months - down from 19,400 in February.

Sir Nigel's report said that waiting times had fallen faster and further in the past year than ever before, with the maximum waiting time now half what it was in 1997.

He said the extra £5.9bn pumped into improving the NHS last year had seen considerable improvements and was value for money.

He revealed that in the past year, the NHS had seen 167,000 more elective operations carried out in hospitals compared with the previous year.

The report also revealed that more procedures were being carried out without the need for a hospital stay, meaning lists were shortened.

There were 197,000 more procedures carried out in primary care settings and outpatients in the past year compared with the year before.

"Not only are we hitting all of our targets, in order to speed up patient care, but by reforming the way we work we are also improving the quality of patient care," Sir Nigel said.

"The NHS is using the extra funding to good effect, with major improvements in quality and quantity.

"Waiting times have fallen faster and further this year than ever before.

"Death rates from the major killers, cancer and coronary heart disease, are falling quickly.

"More staff have been recruited, and more buildings and equipment brought into use."

County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority had no patients waiting more than nine months for hospital treatment or more than 17 weeks for outpatients appointments at the end of March.

Other achievements included 2,200 fewer patients waiting for hospital treatment at the end of this March than 12 months previously

Targets for timely cancer diagnosis and treatment were also met throughout the year.

A spokesman for North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Health Authority said the target of reducing waiting lists for heart bypass and angioplasty operations to a maximum of six months had been achieved.

Provisional results at the end of March represented a "significant achievement" in improving access to health care.

Tim Yeo, Shadow Health and Education Secretary, questioned how much of the improvement in the NHS was due to people leaving the NHS and paying for their own treatment.