The deputy leader of Northumberland Labour has criticised the Government over hospital waiting times following the appointment of a third health secretary in just over a year.
Former Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay was appointed as the Government's health boss following the resignation of Sajid Javid earlier this month. Mr Javid felt he could no longer continue in the cabinet under Boris Johnson.
Mr Javid had only been in post for a little over a year, replacing Matt Hancock on June 16 2021 after breaching Covid-19 regulations.
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Northumberland Labour say there has been no improvement in hospital waiting lists. Deputy leader Liz Simpson called on the Government to put in the necessary investment in order to get NHS waiting lists down.
She said: "Even before the pandemic, NHS waiting lists and waiting times for planned procedures and treatment were going up.
"It's a crying shame really because, under Labour, waiting times were never lower and waiting lists were never shorter. It was hard work to get there and our local NHS organisations, I know, worked tirelessly to achieve it. But it takes work to keep it there.
"The Conservative Government were happy to let things slip and patients have paid the price. Even changes of health secretary have made absolutely no difference. They either make things improve or they don't want to.
“When people are waiting for treatment their lives go into limbo and their condition can get worse while they're waiting. This is why Labour wants to see a return to short waiting lists and low waiting times. It's what people need and deserve.”
According to the British Medical Association, the number of people on the waiting list for treatment across the country stood at 6.48 million as of April this year. At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, that figure was just 4.24 million.
Waiting times have also increased significantly - the total number of patients waiting over 18 weeks for treatment now stands at 2.48 million, while 323,093 patients had been waiting over one year for treatment.
However, Northumbria Healthcare - which operates hospitals in Northumberland as well as North Tyneside - has some of the best performance in the country when it comes to waiting lists. Up to the end of April, the trust had just 35 patients waiting more than a year, which has now come down to just two patients - both of whom have planned dates.
The Government has said it and the NHS have a plan to tackle the backlog, which was put down to Covid-19 delays. The plan includes:
- Aiming to eliminate waits of longer than a year for elective care by March 2025.
- Ensuring no-one is waiting no longer than two years for an elective treatment by July 2022.
- Aiming to eliminate waits of over 18 months by April 2023.
- Making sure that three quarters of patients who have been urgently referred by their GP for suspected cancer will be diagnosed, or have cancer ruled out within 28 days.
- Returning the number of people waiting more than 62 days from an urgent referral to pre-pandemic levels by March 2023.
- Delivering around 30% more elective activity by 2024/25 than before the pandemic, after accounting for the impact of an improved care offer.
The Government says it has also provided an extra £5.9bn of capital funding to support elective recovery, diagnostics, and technology over the next three years to help deliver the recovery of the waiting list.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "We’ve set out a plan to bust the Covid backlogs in health and care services backed by record funding over the next three years – to deliver the biggest catch-up programme in the NHS's history.
"This includes rolling out new surgical hubs and up to 160 community diagnostic centres across the country – with over 90 already open and one million extra scans delivered.
“We are making good progress on cutting longest waiting times - with the number of patients waiting over two years for treatment falling by more than 80% since February - meaning thousands more people have now accessed vital operations and procedures.”
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