When the new Health Secretary appeared before the Health and Social Care Select Committee today, I took the opportunity to challenge her on the growing NHS waiting lists for hospital treatment – which recently hit a new record of 7.7 million.

I asked her whether the Government was creating a two-tier system after sharing the case of a woman forced to turn to the private sector for the removal of a brain tumour and highlighting the recent Healthwatch report showing one in seven patients had been advised to seek private treatment by NHS professionals rather than face delays in the NHS.

I also pressed her on the exclusion of mental health waiting lists from the published figures, and was pleased that she agreed to consider publishing them together – something on which I will follow up.

You can watch our exchange below.