Wes Streeting responds to NAO report finding that the plan to reduce long waits for NHS elective and cancer care services by 2025 is at serious risk

Wes Streeting MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the NAO finding that the plan to reduce long waits for NHS elective and cancer care services by 2025 is at serious risk, said:

“The Government’s failure to meet its unambitious targets will leave more patients in pain and discomfort for years to come, often unable to work or enjoy their lives.

“The Conservatives will blame everything from Covid to strikes for their failure. The truth is that after a decade of Tory mismanagement, the NHS went into the pandemic with waiting lists already at record levels and 100,000 staff shortages. It’s not that they didn’t fix the roof when the sun was shining, they dismantled the roof and ripped up the floorboards.

“The Conservatives want to lower patients’ expectations, Labour will instead raise standards of care. We will give the NHS the staff it needs to treat patients on time again, training a new generation of doctors and nurses, paid for by abolishing non-doms.”