NHS Waiting Lists Hit New Record High

New figures published this week reveal NHS waiting lists have hit a new record high – more than 7.2m are now waiting for care. Somerset County Council Labour Leader Cllr Leigh Redman (Bridgwater North & Central) ’said, “Labour has a plan to build a better Somerset – and that means getting the NHS going again. Today there are record numbers waiting for care – seven million and rising. That means people in pain and discomfort waiting months and months on end for the treatment they need. The next Labour government would take action for families in Somerset. We would bring about one of the biggest NHS workforce expansions in history – funded by reversing the non-dom loophole that lets the global super rich off paying tax like the rest of us.”

There were no shortage of local examples of the state of the NHS under the Tories.

Westover councillor Tim Mander added “Not at all surprising as a parent of a son with acute medical needs I have witnessed first hand the deterioration of NHS services since 2010. The sick and vulnerable are the victims of 13 years of Tory austerity and this has got to stop. We need to elect a government committed to the principles of the NHS where patients and all nursing staff come first.”

While Dunwear North  councillor Dave Loveridge said “I have been referred by my GP for a hearing test a month ago. When the NHS contacted me to arrange an appointment I was told that they would let me know by post but up until now I am still waiting. This is a sad state of affairs and take a chance on which hospital I would go to either. Musgrove. Yeovil or Shepton Mallet.  Some kind Macabre Lottery or what “

Government to Blame

In Bridgwater, Labours ‘Economy’ spokesman Cllr Mick Lerry (Bridgwater Victoria) said  “For those patients in Somerset waiting for an operation, it might be tempting to blame junior Doctors for going on strike, but the real blame has to focus on the Government. At the moment the Secretary of State for Health is refusing to meet with Unions to discuss the crisis in the medical profession, regarding years of neglect and an the absence of pay keeping up with the cost of living. The Government strategy is to pay NHS Staff less is to control inflation, if you pay people less then they have less to spend. This pay strategy has existed since 2010 along with the lack of investment in the Health Service. This crisis existed before the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Many people have experienced longer waiting times for medical appointments and operations, well before the recent pay campaigns by Health workers. A recent report on Care workers has highlighted how Care staff worked above and beyond, during the pandemic, receiving below the cost of living wages, while shareholders received higher dividends for doing nothing.  Labour will focus on the NHS and make the necessary investment and changes to improve Health care for those in need, always free at the point of service and delivery. Labour will make sure that those people receiving medical training will look to the United Kingdom as their first port of call to work and not look for a career overseas. Labour will make sure that the next Labour Government will value the dedication of those people working in the NHS, giving the staff the support and resources necessary, for their commitment to medical care in this country”.

Focus on Labour’s Response

Wes Streeting, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to reports of 12 hour A&E waits, said: “After 13 years of Conservative failure to train the staff the NHS needs, patients can no longer be sure the NHS will be there for them in an emergency. These appalling waiting times mean people are just praying they don’t fall ill or have an accident. 24 hours in A&E isn’t just a tv programme, it is now the reality for far too many patients. We cannot go on like this. Labour will double medical school places and train 10,000 more nurses every year, paid for by abolishing non-doms, so patients are treated on time again.”

Labour Branch Trades Union spokesperson Glen Burrows said “Low pay and general underfunding have caused many trained staff to leave the NHS and seek other employment, often in overseas health services. This is why it’s so important to support the junior doctors’ strike. Starmer should note this and reverse his public refusal to support their strike. What the LP does now, in opposition, is as important as what they do, or say they will do, in power”