NHS data shows people are waiting longer for treatment, including for life threatening conditions such as cancer - IPPR

IPPR Press Release, for immediate use

Harry Quilter-Pinner, IPPR research fellow on health, responding to today’s NHS statistics, said:

"This data shows that people are waiting longer for treatment, including for life threatening conditions such as cancer. This confirms a trend seen across the board in the NHS of missed performance targets and longer waiting times.

“Indeed, anyone monitoring the data over the last few months would be forgiven for thinking they had slipped back into the 1990's.

"This is a crisis of the government's own making. Spending growth on the NHS is well below its historical average of four per cent per year. To solve this the government must back Simon Stevens's reform effort with adequate funding to deal with our growing and ageing population.”

Ends

Contact

Kieren Walters 07921 403651 k.walters@ippr.org

Editor’s Notes:

1. Today’s statistics show that only 88.4% of patients dealt with at A&E within four hours, below the 95% target and that only 82.3% of patients started treatment within 62 days of a referral from a GP - less than the 85% target.
2. IPPR aims to influence policy in the present and reinvent progressive politics in the future, and is dedicated to the better country that Britain can be through progressive policy and politics. With nearly 60 staff across four offices throughout the UK, IPPR is Britain’s only national think tank with a truly national presence.
   
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