Labour

Government has lost control of NHS waiting lists - Burnham

Andy Burnham MP, Labour's Shadow Health Secretary, speaking after the release of new waiting times figures this morning, said:
 
"No amount of desperate spin from the Government today can hide the fact that they have lost control of NHS waiting lists.
 
"Since David Cameron became Prime Minister, there has been a huge increase in the number of patients who have had to wait longer than 18 weeks for treatment. This is exactly what we warned would happen when they relaxed Labour's targets.
 
"Today's dramatic conversion by the Government to the importance of NHS targets comes far too late for the thousands of people who have been left waiting for treatment in pain and discomfort.
 
"Cameron promised to keep waiting times low and only last month insisted that average waits were going down. Today's figures show the opposite and once again reveal our Prime Minister to be totally out of touch with ordinary people.
 
"Labour left waiting times at an historic low, but Lansley has thrown all this away.  Sadly, things will get even worse if he succeeds in abolishing Labour's cap on the amount of private work hospitals can do, pushing NHS patients further back in the queue.
 
"Day by day, the evidence is mounting that the NHS is slipping backwards and into the danger zone. The NHS is distracted by a controversial re-organisation and patients are paying the price with longer waits and a return of the postcode lottery. Cameron must listen to patients and staff, put the NHS first and drop his dangerous Bill."