New data from NHS England will show whether Rishi Sunak is achieving one of his five key pledges
In advance of the publication of NHS England waiting lists, health secretary Victoria Atkins has said “nobody pretended at the time” that it would be easy to bring waiting lists down.
She also blamed industrial action as a factor in Rishi Sunak failing to meet his key pledge on waiting lists.
We know the pain and the anguish that waiting lists cause people – none of us want people to be waiting for the treatments they need. And that’s why the prime minister set it as one of his five priorities, and nobody pretended at the time that this was going to be easy to achieve.
Now, in fairness, in the last four months we have seen a reduction in waiting lists and that is even though we’ve had, sadly, industrial action – particularly damaging industrial action – by junior doctors in January, which of course is the busiest time for the NHS coming out of Christmas.
Reliable, affordable and regular buses are the difference between opportunity and isolation for millions of people across the country.
Four decades of disastrous deregulation of Britain’s buses has robbed communities of a say over the vital services that they depend on, instead handing power to unaccountable private operators who have slashed services.
