Sadly, sinkov, I think that a fair share of the backlog will be dealt with by 'natural wastage' --if you follow my drift.
The whole NHS has been badly managed for years as my wife, who worked in A&E will tell you and she will be backed up by my son, a Senior Paramedic with 30 years service, and his wife a GP for over 25 years.
Overpaid managers who just do not do the job of management, so many nurses etc. have left and now work for agencies which puts another drain on the whole system because of the agency fees which are bing paid, in some cases, just to keep the whole issue running at all.

Media will make of it all what they will, however, there are no easy answers and it ain't going to get any better!