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63,000 on waiting lists at CUH
Rising NHS waiting lists have become so routine that they barely even make the news. Number four on the Prime Minister's infamous pledge list, “cut NHS waiting lists” seems to have evaporated from his pre prepared responses to the media.
Waiting lists remain hugely important to those who are on them. These people are not just a statistic, these are people in pain, they are people who cannot live their normal life, these are people in fear of what the future may bring.
The latest figures in our area show almost 63,000 people are waiting to start treatment. The national standard for patients to start treatment within 18 weeks is 92%. This target is being missed across the NHS by ever bigger gaps. Here in our area just 56% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks.
Patients who wait longer present with more complex conditions that require longer and more expensive treatments. For some the wait means their condition may not be suitable for treatment at all.
In response to these latest figures Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said:
“NHS waiting lists have trebled since the Conservatives came to power 13 years ago. Rishi Sunak’s pledge to cut waiting lists has effectively been abandoned, with the Prime Minister’s choosing to blame NHS staff instead of fixing the problem himself. An extra million patients are on waiting lists compared to this time last year, forced to put their lives on hold, in pain and discomfort.
“The longer we give the Conservatives, the longer patients wait.
Labour’s plan to cut waiting lists will get the NHS back on its feet. The last Labour Government reduced waiting times by increasing staff numbers and spreading good practice. We did this before. We will do it again.”
Under the Conservatives our health service has become more of a National Sickness Service, fighting fires instead of preventing them. Those working in the NHS desperately want to give their patients a better service, they just need the support to do so.
Gareth Wright
Ely and East Cambridgeshire Labour
Health Spokesperson
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