Wes Streeting comments on new NHS waiting times statistics

Wes Streeting MP, Labour's Shadow Health Secretary, commenting on today's new NHS waiting times statistics, said:

"Half a million fewer patients attending A&E or calling an ambulance last month suggests patients in need are staying away, to avoid the strikes and chaos in the NHS. The Government must now get around the table to negotiate an end to these disputes.

"Anyone using the NHS recently will have seen the blindingly obvious - there simply aren't enough doctors and nurses to provide patients with timely care. Astonishingly, the Conservatives are threatening to fine universities if they take on more students for medical school, when we need them more than ever before.

"In his budget next month, Jeremy Hunt must abolish the non-dom tax status and use the revenue to train 15,000 doctors and 10,000 more nurses a year. If the Conservatives refuse to give our NHS the staff it needs to treat patients on time again, the next Labour government will."

Ends


Notes to editors:

• NHS referral to treatment (RTT) waiting times data, December 2022 - link