NINE out of 10 patients across Merseyside are now being treated at a speed “unimaginable” when the Tories ran the NHS, according to health secretary Alan Johnson.

Mr Johnson hailed new figures revealing 93% of operations are being carried out within 18 weeks as the shortest waiting times in the 60-year history of the health service.

In Liverpool, the proportion of patients treated within 18 weeks has leapt from 52% just two years ago to 92% in January, he said.

The picture is very similar in every primary care trust (PCT) in Merseyside, north Cheshire and West Lancashire, with at least nine in 10 patients receiving surgery within that time period.

In both Warrington and Central Lancashire PCTs, the 18-week target was hit for 94% of patients in January, just pipping the other areas.

As recently as March, 2007, under half of patients were treated within 18 weeks in many areas of England, including Sefton (48%).

Mr Johnson said: “Twelve years ago, it was not uncommon for patients to have to wait well over 18 months for an operation.

“Achieving the shortest waits since NHS records began is a tremendous achievement for staff and I congratulate them.

“This has improved the lives of millions of people. Every year, the NHS carries out 60,000 hip operations and, in the last two years, the waiting time for this procedure has fallen from around 30 weeks to 12 weeks.”