Jonathan Ashworth responds to latest NHS performance statistics

“The NHS is in clearly in crisis again with the worst A&E waits on record and almost a quarter of a million people waiting over a year for their treatment, while the NHS continues to battle a deadly global pandemic. Patients are left waiting longer for treatment, risking permanent disability and suffering.

“Boris Johnson needs to explain how his reorganisation in the midst of a pandemic will bring waiting times down, improve cancer survival rates and provide the mental health care people so desperately need.”

Ends

Notes to editors

· Only 78.5 per cent of patients were seen within four hours or less in A&E during January 2021, the lowest figure on record.
· 224,205 people now waiting over 12 months for treatment - up 32k on last month’s figures.

Data sources: NHS digital