NHS dodged winter meltdown but Rishi Sunak fails on pledge to cut waiting lists

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THE NHS dodged a winter meltdown but remains a poor service as Rishi Sunak has failed on his pledge to cut waiting lists, experts say.

The Prime Minister admitted improvements have been smaller than hoped after hospitals missed targets to reduce surgery waits and A&E delays.

AFPSenior doctors said patients have “poor standards of care” in the NHS[/caption]

Figures show the backlog shrank for a fifth month in a row in February, from 7.58million to 7.54m, but it is still larger than the 7.21m when the PM pledged to bring it down last January.

Casualty departments missed a target of seeing 76 per cent of patients within four hours despite doctors calling the goal “unambitious”.

March broke England’s record for the number of A&E visits in a month, with 2.35million.

It was also the busiest since March 2020 for category two 999 calls – which include strokes and heart attacks.

On average they waited 34 minutes for paramedics to arrive, nearly double the 18-minute target.

Danielle Jefferies, analyst at the King’s Fund, said: “Waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive when a person has had a stroke has become normalised. 

“Statistics show that whilst winter pressures may not have dominated headlines as much as last year, the NHS is stuck in a cycle of poor performance. 

“Bed occupancy, flu cases, and delays to discharge from hospital are all similar to last year, which at the time was referred to as the toughest winter in recent memory.

“The public are acutely aware of not being able to access all NHS services easily when they need them.”

Dr Tim Cooksley, of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “Patients continue to experience poor standards of care.”

Sunak admits progress slower than hoped

The health service said it hit its target on diagnosing cancer patients within a month for the first time, and ambulance and A&E waits are shorter than last year.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, medical director for NHS England, said: “The NHS is working flat out to recover services and bring down waiting times for patients despite enormous demand.”

PM Rishi Sunak said on Thursday morning: “Whilst we haven’t made as much progress as I would have liked, today’s figures show we are making headway.

“If it wasn’t for industrial action an extra 430,000 patients would have been treated.

“Whilst there’s a lot more work to do, the plan is working.

“We’re doing everything we can to get patients the care they need when they need it.”

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