Rishi Sunak’s key promise to reduce NHS wait times has been undermined by strikes that have seen some 665,000 appointments cancelled. I it was said.
In January, the prime minister promised to slash NHS waiting lists, but senior government officials now acknowledge that the continued cuts in the number of doctors, nurses and paramedics are making the task more difficult.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay expects the strikes to affect Mr Sunak’s promise. I understands and is ready to take new measures, if necessary, to close the backlog, as soon as the full extent of the disruption becomes officially known in the coming weeks.
Conservative Party leader Greg Hands acknowledged on Sunday that the strikes “didn’t help” but stressed that the government is “absolutely not backing out” of Mr. Sunak’s commitments.
A government source added: “The prime minister is focused on fulfilling all of his five priorities, including reducing waiting lists.”
It happened after I An analysis of NHS data showed that strikes by doctors, nurses, paramedics and other healthcare workers have already resulted in the cancellation of 665,000 appointments or surgeries.
NHS providers said 140,000 appointments were delayed in March as nurses and emergency personnel left home between December and mid-March.
NHS England said the first young doctors strike last month resulted in the cancellation of 175,000 surgeries and appointments.
The NHS association estimates that up to 350,000 appointments could have been canceled during the unprecedented four-day strike of young doctors last week.
Separately, an analysis by NHS England found that the first nurses’ strikes on 15 and 20 December resulted in nearly 30,000 surgeries and appointments being cancelled.
If similar numbers were repeated during the next scheduled 48-hour nurses’ strike from April 30 to May 2, that would mean almost 700,000 appointments and surgeries would have to be canceled over the next month.
Wes Streeting, Shadow Health Sec, urged Mr Sunak to negotiate with young doctors and nurses after members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) voted to reject the latest salary offer if he wants to reach his goal.
The Labor leader told I: “Rishi Sunak’s refusal to negotiate with NHS workers has cost patients dearly and significantly disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
“If the prime minister doesn’t learn his lesson and start cleaning up the mess he made, NHS waiting lists will continue to grow and patients will have to wait longer.”
Mr Hands said the prime minister was “personally involved” in the reduction of NHS waiting lists.
The Tory leader was under pressure over how the prime minister would deliver on his promise to cut record waiting lists amid a wave of strikes.
He told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “Well, the strike obviously didn’t help. We know we are dealing with a waiting list issue as a result of the pandemic, which has inevitably caused significant delays across the NHS. We’ll take control of this.
The strikes didn’t help. But still,[health minister]Steve Barclay, the prime minister personally involved, there’s really an emphasis here on making sure we’re doing our best to keep those waiting lists short.
He said the government is “absolutely not reneging on Mr. Sunak’s commitment.”
It comes after NHS Providers deputy general manager Saffron Corderi said the concerted strike by several health workers unions was “really incredibly disturbing” and would widen the backlog.
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said the union had “no plans” to coordinate strikes with doctors.
Ms Corderi said that joint strikes by nurses and doctors would lead to more waiting lists.
She told Kuensberg: “We will be in a situation where we are already dedicating so many resources to protecting patients in an emergency – it needs to be done in this situation.
“Of course, that means we’re going to take the pedal off the pedal in things like routine surgeries, routine psychiatric visits, routine community visits and things like that.
“So we get even more backlogs and then the waiting lists get even bigger.
“The NHS has done a lot of work with waiting lists so far. We have to say that it is indeed working very well, but it is not sustainable in the long run, the government should sit down at the negotiating table.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHSC) said: “We sympathize with all those affected by the strikes and call on unions to carefully consider their impact on patients.
“Strikes inevitably lead to disrupted appointments — about 175,000 hospital appointments were disrupted during the latest round of young doctor strikes in March.
“The NHS has made great strides in closing the Covid backlog, virtually eliminating more than two years of waiting times for treatment, and we launched an Emergency and Recovery Plan earlier this year to reduce waiting times for patients. among other things, cut by 5,000 additional hospital beds and 800 new ambulances.”
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.