Figures from the NHS reveal that 7,953 people had to wait more than four hours for emergency care at A&Es in London North West University Healthcare Trust. Shockingly, 372 people locally had to wait more than 12 hours to be admitted to accident and emergency. Just 70% of patients admitted to A&E in the area were seen within 4 hours – the NHS says that 95% of patients should be admitted, transferred, or discharged in that time.

Accident and emergency departments across the country are facing huge pressures. As the Culture Secretary, Nadine Dorries, admitted, a decade of Conservative mismanagement left the health service “wanting and inadequate” when the pandemic struck.

There are now also 6.73 million people on the NHS waiting list in England as of June 2022. This is the highest ever recorded. At the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, following a decade of Tory mismanagement there were 4.4 million people on the NHS waiting list in England, then a record high. Nationally, the standard of 92% of people seen within 18 weeks of a referral has not been met since 2016. Now, 1 in every 9 people in England are on the NHS waiting list.

The NHS went into the latest wave of Covid infections with the longest waiting list ever, understaffed and overstretched.

Commenting, Gareth Thomas MP, Harrow West MP said:

“Patients in Harrow in need of emergency medical attention are forced to wait far too long to be seen, left for hours often in serious pain.

The Conservatives have already shut three walk-in centres locally, which got patients in front of a doctor or nurse within an hour and kept some of the pressure off Northwick Park.

“I’m very worried that these delays are putting people off going to A&E who need medical attention. Unacceptable waits will mean people in Harrow could fall through the cracks.

“Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are living in a fantasy world where the NHS isn’t worth mentioning. The truth is the health service is facing the biggest crisis in its history, with one in every eight people waiting for care. The Conservative leadership candidates have no plans to even begin to fix this.

“Among those 6.7 million on waiting lists, there could be a huge number of undiagnosed conditions like cancer. Record waiting times have a cost in lives.

At the same time as they are putting up taxes on working people, they are lowering standards for patients. We’re paying more but waiting longer.

“Our NHS is crying out for a change in government to give us the fresh start we need.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• Source: Consultant-led Referral to Treatment Waiting Times Data 2022-23, A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions 2022-23
• Population figure source: ONS Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2020