Waiting lists have risen for the second month in a row, according to the latest figures.

The number of English patients waiting to be admitted to an NHS hospital rose by a fifth of a per cent to 1,003,000 by the end of May, just two months after ministers hailed an historic fall to below the one million mark.

The news came less than a month after John Reid took on the job as secretary of state for health with the responsibility of delivering Labour's ambitious waiting targets.

However, the change also represents a five per cent fall over the year, while the number of patients waiting more than a year for an operation fell by 6.5 per cent over the course of a month to 159.

By the end of May, only 25 patients in England were waiting for more than 15 months.

"There are now over 21,000 fewer people waiting 12 months for inpatient treatment than in March last year," health minister John Hutton said.

"The NHS is continuing to make good progress year on year in reducing waiting times for treatment. Thanks to the commitment and hard work of NHS staff, these latest figures show the vast majority of NHS patients are seen within the maximum waiting time standard.

"However, we are not complacent. There is still a long way to go, but with the continued efforts of our doctors, nurses and support staff, the NHS can achieve the NHS Plan commitment of no patient waiting more than 6 months for treatment by 2005."

The Conservatives argued that only reforms would improve the figures.

"What a way for John Reid to begin his time in office. So much for all Labour's promises that increased taxes would lead to improvements in the NHS," said shadow health secretary Dr Liam Fox.

"With waiting lists still shamefully over one million, perhaps ministers will now realise that their tinkering and headline grabbing initiatives are not working.

"Only genuine reform will do the trick but it is obvious that only the Conservatives will introduce such changes."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Dr Evan Harris claimed the figures showed the government's target system had "descended into chaos".

"Figures are being fiddled, then revised, and patients are still waiting over 15 or even 18 months. More worryingly, stories are emerging every day of cases where doctors are forced to treat targets rather than patients," he said.

"Patients have the right to know that if they need an operation urgently, they will not be forced to wait while someone who has waited 12 months less one day is rushed in as a political emergency. Doctors must treat the sickest quickest. The number of people waiting has risen over a million again.

"The 'waiting list' is widely discredited because it can be fiddled - hospitals can just leave people off the list, so the figures will fall. The list goes up when new treatments become available. It is like arguing that the number of people waiting for a train is a good measure of the rail service - not how long people wait.

"It is a testament to the government's target culture that we have to endure this pointless and misleading measure."