this is bbc news. the headlines at 8.00pm: nhs under pressure — the number of people waiting more than 18 weeks for hospital treatment in england has doubled since 2012. passengers from countries subjected to america's travel ban seize the chance to fly to the us, as judges refuse to reverse a suspension of the controversial order. ministers pledge more affordable homes will be built in england — aimed at tackling the high cost of renting. also in the next hour: after six days of demonstrations the romanian government revokes a decree that would have reduced tens of thousands of protesters are celebrating in bucharest as campaigners vow to keep up the pressure on the government. and in half an hour, here on bbc news, the travel show goes to brunei — to check out the world's largest floating town. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. more and more people are having to wait several months for hospital treatment in england. new figures obtained by the bbc show the number of patients without care after 18 weeks, has doubled in the past four years. health experts are warning that the total number waiting for treatment could soon reach 4 million. the royal college of surgeons says the delays are causing real suffering for many patients, while nhs england says it's doing all it can to speed up treatment times. in the first of a series of special reports, on the nhs, here's our health editor, hugh pym. for peter, it wasn'tjust inconvenient waiting six months for surgery, it made his life almost unbearable. even after a series of operations began last autumn, there were delays when he was almost immobile. i was completely housebound, relying on friends forjust minor trips to the shops and i became quite reclusive as well.

deeply frustrated and deeply upset with not being able to get out and do what i wanted to do. bbc research shows that long waits for operations have gone up a lot, though they are measured differently around the uk. in england, the number waiting over 18 weeks was up 163%. in scotland, the figure was up 95%. in wales, those waiting over 26 weeks were up 74%. and in northern ireland, the number waiting over 13 weeks was up 95%. i don't know anybody who isn't extremely concerned about this because it is an indicator of the fact that we are unable to deliver the standard of care we would like to be delivering and also an indicator ofjust how much patience waiting for their surgery are probably suffering. nhs waiting lists became a big

political issue in the 1990s and tony blair's government focused on bringing them down. this continued under david cameron and the coalition. that improvement has reversed in the last few years. it is quite likely we will pass the 4 million mark, people waiting for admissions to hospitals for treatment, probably in the spring of this year. the department of health which covers england said the nhs was doing 5,000 more operations a day than in 2010 at the number who had to wait less than the 18—week target had also increased. hospitals say that with more emergency cases coming in and only a limited number of beds, something has to give. when the system is under pressure, it is often the patient expecting routine surgery who has to be put off. hospitals have been under relentless pressure on the emergency side and we need to free up the capacity to enable those planned operations to continue.

peter had his final operation last week and is out and about again but the long wait is something he would not wish on any other patient. joining us from brockley in south london is dave west, senior bureau chief at the health service journal. thank you forjoining us. how do current funding levels compare with the past? surely, inevitably, if we compare 110w the past? surely, inevitably, if we compare now with a time under labour, when they were really emphasising bringing down waiting times. they're going to look pretty measly, these days? yes, since around 2010 and as forecast going on to the end of this parliament, 2020, real—terms funding growth for the health service overall, to the department of health s only around an average of 0.9% a year, whereas in the previous decade it was running at a level of several per

cent every year in real terms's growth, up to around 5% or 6%. so substantially growth, up to around 5% or 6%. so su bsta ntially less over growth, up to around 5% or 6%. so substantially less over this decade and substantially less than has been the long—term increase in funding each year over many years previously. the government keeps getting criticised for not putting money in. but isn't it inevitable that there will be a short fall in money, if we have upgrated treatments which cost more? money, if we have upgrated treatments which cost more7m money, if we have upgrated treatments which cost more? it is inevitable. that's what all the signs are showing us. the nhs is working as hard as it can to become more productive and efficient in overhauling and making big changes in the way it is working to try to treat many more people each year and afford those more expensive drugs and treatments, despite the constraints on its funding. all the evidence and suggestions show that it's already highly productive and highly efficient and it is very difficult for it to make the kind of improvements that are needed every single year to keep up with the cost

pressures and the increases in the number of people coming through the doors essentially. that's interesting you say that, though. a lot of people think the nhs is so big, such a burgeoning organisation, it is bound to be inefficient. where do the inefficiencies lie? the important thing to say is that most of the international comparisons show that the nhs is a lot more efficient than most health services around the world or at least as efishted so. there is not a huge amount of fat to take out of it there, but the kinds of places where it is looking are, for example, bringing together different organisations which run hospitals or health services, to take out some of the overheads. when the nhs is buying in huge amounts of items, whether that be rubber gloves or hip replacements every year and what it is trying to do is buy those in more sensible ways to get better prices and standardise the way it is buying things. it is trying to work more

productively using staff in more efficient ways. whether that's, for example, looking at how long it ta kes to example, looking at how long it takes to do handovers and things like that in hospital or the other big area that a massive amount of effort is going into, is trying to improve the way people are cared for in the community and their homes, via their gp practices. if they become ill, to try to prevent their illness from deteriorating, so they don't have to go into hospital, which is where their treatment normally becomes much more expensive. there was a major legal change in 2012 with the introduction of the new health act. briefly, if you can, how has that affected the nhs‘s ability to respond to these pressures it's under? people who are running the nhs at the moment are trying to make the kinds of changes in efficiency and productivity improvements that i have talked about. what they are experiencing,

in the wake of that 2012 health act is that a lot of the rules that have it put in place make it more difficult to make some of the changes that need to happen. for example, before that act there were ten health authorities which looked after the health service across a region and they were able to make quite clear and quick decisions when they wanted to, about the way that services should be reorganised or changed if they needed to become, make big changes to hospitals, for example, to make them more efficient. whereas now there is a large number of local commissioning groups, more than 200 and systems arep finding it is difficult to make changes in that environment. the health act also put in place rules around competition and how decisions should be made when changes are being reorganised, which people have found, which people in the nhs are finding is making it more difficult for them to make some of the changes that they'd like, in order to address this severe funding

constraint. it is important to say that the 2012 health act isn't the mains cause of the kind of issues you are reporting on tonight. it is just that the consequences of it are making it more difficult to deal with the funding constraints. dave west thank you very much for your time. and over the coming days across bbc news we'll be running a series of reports looking at the state of the nhs. tomorrow morning from 9.00am, victoria derbyshire will be debating the state of the health service with an audience of people who work for — or have recent experience of — the nhs. they'll be joined by health experts and senior politicians. a us appeals court has delivered another blow to president trump's travel ban against people entering america from seven mainly muslim countries. the court decided not to reinstate the policy, after its suspension yesterday by a federal court. travellers who'd been barred from entering the us, have now begun arriving. from washington richard lister reports. at the american airports, business as usual, the travel ban has been lifted and those with visas can come again.

those previously barred by president trump are heading to the us while they can. we're really excited and and finally we have been cleared to enter the united states. donald trump may be relaxing in florida this weekend but he is furious at this challenge to his presidency and forced to abide by the court's ruling but fighting to take back control of his agenda. we face a dangerous enemy, inspiring people to come into this country and people who are already in this country frankly and the president is determined to use the authority he has under the constitution and the law. doesn't the judge has the authority to do what he did as well? he certainly does and that is why the administration is complying with that order. this executive order, donald trump says is legal and he can bar entrance to foreigners in the name of national security. a federal court overturned the ban

on friday and the judge said it was unconstitutional because it damaged businesses and colleges. the president's first attempt to get the ban restored has failed and he had argued his presidential authority was being undermined. a full appeal is due this week but it could end up at the supreme court. the vetting order was not vetted. there is a difference between being bold and being rash. when you put out an order that you have not worked with businesses or your professionals in the security order when you have done it, i don't think it is the surprise there will be court challenges. despite the noisy protest outside president trump's florida home, the polls suggest these voices are in the minority and more americans support the travel ban. when he returns to the white house this week, the president will be determined to press on with his signature policy but he is finding out the hard way there are checks and balances to his authority. the courts are even now defining the limits of his presidential power.

and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are robert fox, who's defence editor at the london evening standard, and the former conservative employment minister, four people have been arrested, after an 18—year—old man was shot dead in a pub car park in gwynedd in north wales. police say the victim was in a vehicle outside the ship inn in llanbedrog, when he was attacked. a man has been stabbed and shot in east london. police were called to the scene in ilford to find a 22—year—old man inside a car with serious but not life threatening injuries. the man is believed to have been shot and also sustained minor knife wounds. the conservative party may no longer be encouraging home ownership for all. a guiding principle for more than 30 years, the housing minister, gavin barwell, now says buying a home is no longer affordable for some and there should be a new emphasis on renting. labour argues more council houses

are needed to deal with what it says is a "housing crisis". here's our political correspondent iain watson. 0ver over a well—publicised cuppa, mrs thatcher defended the council sales' policy. mrs thatcher expected that would be her legacy when she gave tenants the right to buy their council homes in the 80s. but the current conservative prime minister faces a different challenge with house prices soaring in some parts of britain. home ownership remains a dream for many families so many houses have been constructed to help those who have to rent. —— so new —— so new policies have been constructed. we need to build more homes for rent because that will bring the price down over time but secondly we need to try to change the way the market works and bring some new people in that will offer longer tenancies and give people more security in their home. and we need to end some of the upfront costs people have to pay. home ownership in england has declined from its peak in 2003. seven out of ten households

owned their own home then. fewer than two thirds now. the number of private rented accommodation has almost doubled. before the financial crash, developers were falling over themselves to grab this piece of prime north london real estate to build homes for people to buy. now, this rather swish development behind me has been built exclusively for people to rent. these new homes are likely to be popular with young professionals who cannot afford a big deposit to get onto the housing ladder. some flats costing £450 a week so they don't come cheap. we have seen the lowest level of new affordable housing building for 2h years. what we have heard from government today in truth is feeble and incentives for private landlords simply won't help. 0ne infourfamilies bringing up kids in private

accommodation and they need more guarantee and security. government ministers say they haven't abandoned the vision of a property—owning democracy but with more people now renting, policies have to accommodate the new reality. i can speak now to rob warm from the national housing federation. he's in our leeds studio. rob, thank you very much forjoining us rob, thank you very much forjoining us tonight. what is your reaction to the suggestions coming from the government? well, i think this is a welcome and very timely package of measures, really. ithink welcome and very timely package of measures, really. i think we have known for a long time that the real losers in the housing market are people in private rent. we've seen the housing crisis, for a number of yea rs, the housing crisis, for a number of years, people when we talk about housing crisis, well government has dealt with it like it is an ownership crisis. i think shows government has opened up to the fact that ownership is not for everyone. not everyone wants it buy or can afford to. we need other options. house associations are delivering to this route. we want to do more and

we see this as a welcome announcement from government that gives us the opportunity to do that. what needs to change, then, is it the type of houses we build? is it the type of houses we build? is it the legality of tenancy agreements it make sure people can stay in their homes longer? a whole range of things. i think if you speak to te n pa nts things. i think if you speak to tenpants and we all know people who private rent and we have usually privately rented ourselves. they wa nt privately rented ourselves. they want three things — stability and they want to know what they are doing. we can talk about statistics but these are real people with real lives who have to make real decisions. you talk about people who bring a baby home from hospital and can't decorate their nursery or can't decorate their nursery or can't decide what school their kids will go to. it is not acceptable to people. it is not always a way i would want to live or expect other people. i think the point aboutp stability is important and a real point there about quality as well. making sure that people get the repairs and maintenance done. i think that's what you need big organisations, housing associations to move into this area and say — you

know what these people deserve better and we'll work with government to give them better. we have a lot of private individuals who maybe only own one or two house. you can't rule of them out of it completely, can you ? you can't rule of them out of it completely, can you? of course not. i think one of the issues we have with the home market, we have around 2 million landlords, most as you say, private individuals with a single house. now, some of them do it really, really well. some of them do it not so well and some do it really badly. i think the challenge is- really badly. i think the challenge is — imagined if we delivered anything like that, electricity or gas or broadband, with lots of individuals delivering a very different service. it means people getan different service. it means people get an inconsistent and insecure service and often very poor—quality service. remembersometimes service and often very poor—quality service. remember sometimes people are paying half their monthly income for housing that scombrus isn't good enough. i think they deserve better. i think government is saying they think those people deserve better andi think those people deserve better and i think the key challenge is just to deliver them. thank you for joining us.

the headlines: the number of people facing long waits for hospital treatment in england has more than doubled in the past four years according to figures obtained by the bbc. passengers from countries subjected to america's travel ban are seizing the chance to fly to the us afterjudges are seizing the chance to fly to the us after judges refused are seizing the chance to fly to the us afterjudges refused to reverse a suspension of the controversial order. the government is promising a new emphasis for people who rent homes, as it unveils a housing strategy for england that week. sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. it looked like a very one—sided affair in rome. wales beat italy 33—7 to move top of the six nations standings but they actually trailed at half—time. they turned it around with 30 unanswered points but a couple of points of concern, ahead of their game against england next weekend, are injuries to george north and dan biggar. patrick gearey reports

the italian national anthem asks — where is victory? something the by where is victory? something the rugby team's often had to pondser. the place of europe's 7th best side in the six nations has been under question. that may well have formed their team talk. this try was a robust response. you can, of course be too robust and giving away penalties be meant giving away penalties be meant giving up the lead. for wales' lee haf approximate enny their fullback fullback. what was begun with his reassuring boot continued. jonathan davies went over. and seven minutes later, liam williams could take the bow a new tournament rule means teams get a bonus point for scoring four tries. george north set off after number three. he has had hamstring troubles

in the past. this was some fitness test. he had just enough fuel. italy we re test. he had just enough fuel. italy were by now running on empty. that extra point was within wales' grasp. they were this close to it. they have six days for the bruises to heal. it is england next. injury‘s taken it's toll on the england camp too. george kruis has been ruled out of the entire six nations. he sat out their victory against france yesterday and will have surgery on a knee ligament injury on tuesday. he'll be out for up to three months. mako vunipola willjoin up with the squad this week as he recovers from his own knee problem. gabrieljesus scored twice on his full home debut for manchester city as they beat swansea city to move up to third in the table. they won 2—1, but their winner came deep into injury time at the etihad stadium after gylfi sigurdsson had equalised for the swans. that's three goals in two games for the brazilian teenager.