Labour comments on research by the Emergency Medicine Journal finding that patients ‘more likely to die’ if they endure long waits in A&E

Wes Streeting MP, Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary, commenting on research by the Emergency Medicine Journal finding that patients ‘more likely to die’ if they endure long waits in A&E, said:

“24 hours in A&E isn’t just a tv show, it’s now what patients are forced to go through under the Tories, often with tragic consequences.

“The Government use Covid as an excuse, but it was thanks to a decade of Conservative mismanagement that we went into the pandemic with record A&E waiting times and 100,000 NHS staff shortages. It’s not that the Tories didn’t fix the roof while the sun was shining, they dismantled the roof and removed the floorboards.

“By providing it with the staff it needs, Labour will secure the future of the NHS and deliver shorter waiting times for patients, just as the last Labour government did.”