December’s monthly A&E figures were the worst on record. Hospitals are at full capacity, ambulances backed up, operations cancelled and patients waiting for hours on trolleys adding up to another NHS winter crisis.
Across England:
- Over 300,000 people waited longer than four hours in A&E.
- Almost 70,000 patients waited longer than four hours on trolleys for a hospital bed.
- So far this winter more than 100,000 patients have been stuck in the back of ambulances outside hospitals
- The latest figures show 1 in 4 patients waited a week or more to speak to a GP or nurse, or didn’t get an appointment at all.
Only Labour will stand up for the NHS and this Saturday Labour politicians and members will be out around the country promoting our plans for the NHS. The 2017 Manifesto detailed our plans to make sure the NHS is equipped to deal with the challenges of today, protect patients and staff, and ensure the long-term sustainability of our health service. This includes pledges to:
- Invest £37 billion extra in the NHS over the next parliament
- Cut waiting lists by guaranteeing treatment within 18 weeks
- Put safe staffing levels into law and scrap the NHS pay cap
- Halt hospital closure plans, and ask local people to participate in the redrawing of plans with a focus on patient need rather than finance.
Policy Development
This year, through Labour's policy making process, the National Policy Forum (NPF), we'll be looking at how we further develop the policies set out in our manifesto, including our key pledges for the NHS. We have chosen eight key areas to examine and we want to hear your thoughts.
We'll be providing further details in the coming weeks, including publishing consultation documents and letting members and local parties know more about the different ways to play a part. In the meantime if you want to let us know your thoughts — either on the eight topics or on the NHS specifically — or are interested in finding out more about how the Party makes policy, you can do so on our online submissions page.
