These NHS performance statistics are a damning indictment of Theresa May’s neglect of our NHS – Jonathan Ashworth

Responding
to the latest NHS monthly performance statistics, Jonathan Ashworth MP,
Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said:

“These
NHS performance statistics are a damning indictment of Theresa May’s neglect of
our NHS. She’s overseen an unprecedented winter crisis, in which almost a
thousand people waited over twelve hours on trolleys, compared to just 17 in
January 2011. The Government once again missed its four hour A&E target and
seems content with a 504 per cent increase in the number of patients waiting
over four hours for admission since January 2011.

“Speaking
to the Reform think tank earlier, Jeremy Hunt joked at his dislike of targets.
This is no laughing matter: patients in this country have faced the worst
winter crisis in the history of our NHS and it is shocking that Jeremy Hunt has
indicated he doesn’t expect to hit the A&E target until 2018. The Health
Secretary has been in position for four and a half years and this simple isn’t
good enough.

“Yesterday’s
Budget announcement should have been an opportunity to genuinely place the NHS on
a sustainable footing. And yet the Chancellor’s mere offer of £100 million for
capital funding simply isn’t enough, meaning the NHS will continue facing its
biggest financial squeeze in history and head-for-head investment will fall
again next year.

“The Tories are overseeing a startling collapse in standards and Theresa May is
still in complete denial as to the sheer scale of the crisis. Jeremy Hunt must
be clearer about what action he’s going to take to make sure patients and their
families never have to go through a winter like this again.”