TORIES’ 2 YEARS OF A&E FAILURE
4hr target not met since 2015 Surgery & cancer care also hit
THE four-hour A&E waiting time target has been missed every month for the past two years.
Stats from NHS England show just 90.3% of patients spent four hours or less in A&E last month. The 95% target has not been hit since July 2015, shortly after the Tories won a majority in the general election.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warned NHS patients could not “afford another year of Theresa May”.
He added: “The crisis in social care is crippling our hospitals as more people have delayed discharges because there isn’t proper care available for them outside.”
The A&E target has been diluted twice by the Tories, from 98% to 95% in 2010 and, in January, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it now only applies to “urgent health problems”.
CRISIS
Separate stats show the number of patients waiting for planned surgery has hit an all-time high of more than four million. And, in June, two of NHS England’s eight cancer targets were missed, including the 85% standard for 62 days between a GP referral and first treatment.
Dave Prentis, of the union Unison, said patients were “clearly paying the price for Theresa May’s time in Downing Street”. Dr Mark Holland, of the Society for Acute Medicine, said it is “another damning indictment of the crisis in the NHS”. He added: “One of the richest nations is consistently failing to deliver care in line with its own standard.”
Meanwhile, an analysis of figures by Labour, due out today, shows that 26,710 patients waited at least two months for cancer treatment following an urgent GP referral during Mrs May’s first year in power – 87% higher than five years ago. And 105,471 patients waited two weeks or longer for a consultant appointment after an urgent GP referral, up 121% on five years ago. Those waiting a month or more for treatment following a decision to treat was up 80% in the same period. Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “Theresa May’s first year in office has been characterised by unprecedented numbers of cancelled operations and delayed cancer treatments.”