The government has defended its policy on NHS waiting lists and waiting times.

Facing questions in the House of Lords, Baroness Andrews said that reports of figures being fiddled needed to be kept in perspective.

She insisted that public investment in the health service was drastically cutting waiting lists.

"We have put in place a major programme of investment, modernisation and reform designed to shorten waiting," she said.

"As a consequence by the end of 2005 we will see maximum waiting times of 13 weeks for a first outpatient appointment and six months for inpatient treatment."

Andrews told peers that non-emergency patients were now being offered beds in other establishments, even if they are some distance from their homes

"Particularly in the case of coronary heart disease if there is a possibility of getting the patient into hospital faster there is a choice of scheme whereby the patient can be offered treatment in a different hospital," she said.

"I believe quite a high proportion of patients are making that choice."

Opposition peers questioned the minister on the recent Audit Commission report on the "widespread and deliberate mis-reporting of waiting lists and waiting time figures".

The Audit Commission had called for an "open debate within the NHS" about the causes of figure fiddling so that lessons could be learned and measures taken to avoid it being repeated.

Andrews insisted that peers should keep the report "in perspective".

Only three of the 41 hospital trusts which had spot checks were found to be seriously in default, she said.

But this was "absolutely something which the government wants to see an end to". "It is reprehensible and unacceptable," she made clear.

The government has set up investigations, but already there had been staff suspensions and resignations over the issue.

Ministers have also introduced a new code of conduct for NHS managers in order to "make it quite clear that any temptation to alter figures will be taken very, very seriously indeed," Andrews said.

The other health trusts accused of mis-reporting were discovered to have "system reporting failures which were essentially technical" the minister claimed.