Tories’ file on NHS can be a key election problem – and the proof is not flattering
By Gurpreet Narwan, political correspondent
Have NHS ready lists risen or fallen? You will get a special reply relying on which politician you converse to.
The Tories will level out ready lists have shrunk each month since September, whereas Labour will begin their evaluation in January final yr, when Rishi Sunak made tackling NHS ready lists one in all his key pledges.
Since then, the ready checklist for non-emergency appointments has grown by 300,000.
New figures at present additionally present a goal to have all A&E sufferers met inside 4 hours was missed, though wait occasions are bettering.
The public’s expertise and notion of the NHS has deteriorated quickly over the years, and it’ll require greater than marginal positive factors to persuade them issues are getting higher.
However, the PM has endured along with his technique of telling folks issues are bettering, even when it does not really feel that method.
Today he blamed industrial motion for holding the figures excessive, shying away from the very fact the federal government had a job to play within the persistence of these strikes.
And on Politics Hub tonight, well being minister Maria Caulfield blamed the pandemic for public satisfaction being so low.
The authorities routinely blames elements exterior its management for missed targets or coverage failures, however the NHS ready checklist had already risen from 2.3 million folks in 2010, when the Tories got here to energy, to 4.4 million earlier than the pandemic took maintain in February 2020.
As we edge nearer to the overall election, Labour can be asking voters to mirror on not simply Mr Sunak’s authorities, however 14 years of Tory rule.
The proof is not flattering.
