‘Hypocrite’ Corbyn in dock over Welsh NHS

JEREMY Corbyn was accused of ‘total hypocrisy’ over the NHS last night, after consultants warned patient safety was being compromised ‘to an unacceptable degree’ in Labour-run Wales.

The Labour leader has spent weeks trying to exploit the winter flu crisis by blaming it on the Government – and yesterday described ministers’ claim of record NHS funding as ‘fake news’ despite published figures showing it is true.

But hospital consultants yesterday said Welsh A&E units were ‘in some ways’ worse than those in England.

They said the records of the bestperforming Welsh hospitals on the four-hour waiting time were ‘similar to some of our worst-performing hospitals in England’.

In a letter to Labour’s First Minister Carwyn Jones they said efforts to prepare the Welsh NHS for winter fell ‘well short of what was required to maintain adequate care’.

Tory MP David Davies said services had deteriorated so much under Labour that some of his Monmouth constituents wanted to be treated in England. He added: ‘The whole approach from Jeremy Corbyn has been total and utter hypocrisy … After 20 years of Labour there is no doubt the NHS in Wales operates at a lower standard than in England.’

The Welsh government said it had been ‘planning for the winter period for some months’ and had injected an additional £50million.

Official statistics show NHS spending rose in real terms from £141.3billion to £144.3billion between 2016 and 2017. But asked about the Government’s claim to be investing record sums, Mr Corbyn said: ‘To misquote Donald Trump, that is a fake news agenda. The NHS is stretched beyond belief because of its lack of resources.’

A spokesman for the Health Secretary said: ‘NHS spending is at its highest ever level and in fact £12.6billion higher than when Labour left office.’

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