Rishi Sunak can meet his pledge to cut NHS waiting lists if he breaks deadlock with striking doctors
One in eight people in England are currently waiting for hospital treatment, adding to the burden on the NHS and potentially affecting the economy, so why doesn’t the Prime Minister step in?
August 11, 2023 7:28 am(Updated 7:34 am)
When Rishi Sunak returns from his family holiday in the next few days, he may want to review the five pledges he made to voters at the start of the year.
Despite some signs of optimism, the economy continues to sulk in the doldrums and the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats since 2018 has just surpassed 100,000.
It is the Prime Minister’s pledge to cut NHS waiting lists, however, that seems to be the furthest out of reach.
Latest figures showing the number of people waiting for routine hospital treatment is now at its highest-ever level, at 7.6m, with more than 100,000 people added to the list since a month ago.
This means that, in England, more than one in eight people are waiting for surgery. That is a lot of people in pain and discomfort, potentially having to take many months off work.
And so it is not only a burden on people’s health and on the over-stretched NHS, but economic productivity will be taking a hit – not a good thing when the economy is already teetering on the edge of recession.
The Prime Minister has blamed months of strikes by NHS workers – first nurses and ambulance staff, and now junior doctors and consultants – for the backlog.
NHS England says 778,000 operations have been cancelled or delayed due to industrial action, but this does not tell the whole story: our waiting list problem is a chronic condition caused by years of under-resourcing and under-staffing, as well as the backlog caused by the Covid pandemic.
But if Mr Sunak’s argument is that strikes are fuelling record-high waiting list numbers, the first thing he should do, as soon as he steps off his plane from California, is to order his Health Secretary Steve Barclay to settle the dispute with the British Medical Association.
It took prime ministerial intervention to break the deadlock with unions representing nurses and ambulance workers. If he wants to rescue the NHS – and the economy – before the next election, the only way to meet his pledge on waiting lists is to reach a pay deal with doctors.
