Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has criticised the government after new data revealed that around 121,000 people died across England last year while still waiting for NHS care, double the number of people who died on waiting lists in 2017/2018. The figures are also higher than in 2021, when the country was still in the midst of the Covid pandemic.
In Tameside, 94 patients died while on waiting lists. The NHS constitution states that patients should not wait more than 918 weeks for treatment, but almost half of patients in England today wait longer than that to receive healthcare.
The public now face the longest waiting lists in NHS history, with a record 7.6 million people waiting for treatment. At Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust alone, there are currently 21,968 people on NHS waiting lists.
Rishi Sunak promised to cut NHS waiting lists, but there are 600,000 more patients waiting for NHS care today than when he became Prime Minister.
Commenting, Andrew Gwynne said:
“It is just beyond tragic that we now have record numbers of people are spending their final months in pain and agony, waiting for treatment that never arrives.
“Local people deserve an NHS that will be there for them when they need it. But that basic promise has been broken by this Government. The longer the Conservatives are in office, the longer patients will wait.
“Only Labour can rescue the NHS from this crisis and restore it to good health. We will train the staff needed to treat patients on time again, and reform the service to make it fit for the future.”