Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to NHS data released this morning showing waiting lists hitting 3 million for the first time in six years, said:

“David Cameron said that NHS waiting lists would be the test of his running of the NHS. With the news that it has hit a six-year high and with 3 million patients waiting, people will conclude that he simply can’t be trusted with the NHS.

“Millions of people, up and down the country, waiting in pain and discomfort will today be justified in wondering why Mr Cameron threw the NHS into the chaos of a re-organisation when nobody voted for it. Today’s news confirms that the unnecessary re-organisation has dragged down standards of patient care and left the NHS heading seriously downhill.

“After a decade of progress under Labour, NHS waiting lists are getting longer by the day. It is what always happens when the Tories are in charge of the NHS, leaving millions of people facing the agonising choice of waiting in pain or paying to go private.

“David Cameron promised to protect the NHS and keep waiting lists down. Today, it is clear that he has broken that promise and he must urgently set out a plan to turn things around.”

Ends

Editor’s Note:

NHS Referral to Treatment figures released today by NHS England for April 2014 reveal that 2,993,108 patients are on the waiting list. Six NHS trusts did not report data and estimates show there are 125,000 patients waiting at these hospitals.

Source: ‘Consultant-led Referral to Treatment Waiting Times Data 2013-14’, NHS England, 12 June 2014 [http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/rtt-data-2014-15/