A&E waits: This Conservative government is a catastrophe for our NHS 

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

The latest NHS data has revealed that the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments from a decision to admit them to actually being admitted hit 54,308 in January, up sharply from 44,045 in December.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on this Conservative Government to cancel their planned real-terms cut of £1.3bn to the NHS budget in 2024/25 and use those funds to increase the number of NHS dental appointments, recruit and retain more GPs, and most importantly for A&E services, increase the number of beds in hospitals.

Responding to the figures, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP said:

“A&E departments are bearing the brunt of the crisis in our NHS. Patients are left on trolleys in corridors for hours on end, waiting in intense pain, whilst NHS staff are heroically trying to cope even whilst being overworked and burnt out. It is an utterly depressing and unacceptable situation.

“This Conservative government has brought our NHS to its knees. Ministers can go on the airwaves and pretend everything is fine but their uncaring statements do not survive contact with reality. There is no way to dress up the complete catastrophe that this Conservative government has been for our NHS. 

“The blame for this disaster lies squarely with Rishi Sunak. He must cancel his planned cuts to the NHS budget and put that money towards reducing waits for NHS services.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

NHS A&E stats here.