Healthcare services may have to be halted unless NHS England receives an extra $13.7 billion in funding next year, groups representing the health service have warned.

The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers said the money was needed to cover pandemic-related costs and reduce the backlog in operations and treatments. They alerted that patients could be put at risk without more funding.

The government said it had already allocated additional money to tackle backlogs.

The organizations are concerned a three-year government spending review for England, some of which could be announced next week, will fall well short of what the NHS needs.

The extra $13.7 billion to run day-to-day services would be on top of the $193 billion budget already planned.

Just under half would cover extra costs associated with Covid and much of the rest would be allocated to tackling waiting lists for non-urgent operations and mental health.

Waiting lists have hit record levels during the pandemic, with more than 5.45 million people waiting for NHS hospital treatment in England.

But the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers warned waiting lists could more than double if budgets increased by less than $13.7 billion.