UK's Heath Secretary, Andrew Lansley has said that NHS heads would be sacked if it is found that they are rationing NHS operations and imposing minimum waiting time in order to save costs.

The remarks come after a report showed that NHS trusts were "imposing pain and inconvenience" by making their patients wait longer than needed just to save costs. It indicates that the NHS heads have increased the waiting time to save the costs for several years.

The NHS Co-operation and Competition Panel found that the practice has become widespread as the NHS has been asked to save £20 billion over four years. Mr Lansley affirmed that this practice must stop and from March next year if such practices are found, the head of the concerned NHS will face sacking.

Mr Lansley said: "For too long, Labour turned a blind eye to unfair practices within the NHS which harmed patients. No right-thinking person could possibly understand how anyone could delay a patient's treatment unnecessarily.

"That is why we're taking action against those primary care trusts which are behaving in this way. From next year, everywhere in England, minimum waiting times and caps on operations will be banned."

Under the changes proposed, primary care trusts will be replaced with commissioning groups made up of senior doctors and nurses from April 2013. These senior doctors and nurses will be responsible for paying for the care their patients need from NHS and private hospitals.