NHS Waiting Lists.

We all vaguely remember Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's pledges in January 2023 to cut NHS waiting lists. One year on this has not happened and nationally the waiting lists have continued to rise. In local terms they have remained relatively static.

The Conservative government slashed funding for the NHS despite waiting lists growing compared to last year. The Autumn Statement revealed that the NHS budget has been cut by £3.5 billion (2.1%) in real terms this year and is set to fall by another £1.3 billion (0.8%) next year. The Conservative government needs to reverse the NHS spending cuts and invest in fixing local hospitals, hiring more staff and ensuring patients get the treatment they deserve.

Far too many people in are being left waiting endlessly in pain for treatment. Many are being forced to go private. People deserve a local health service that delivers the care they deserve when they need it. Meanwhile the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB) is consulting on proposed changes to acute hospital services in our area. Their favoured Option is to provide a new specialist acute hospital near Junction 7 of the M3 and changes to the services currently provided by Winchester Hospital. The proposed new hospital is part of the new hospital pledge by Boris Johnson and now Rishi Sunak: the problem is that it is not funded. This will also result in downgrading Winchester’s A&E to a Minor Injuries Unit and reducing its maternity services. I would question that this will lead to an improvement in services.

Proper funding is key to all this. We need to reverse the NHS spending cuts that are leaving our local health services overstretched.

Cllr Luigi Gregori

Lib Dem PPC NWHants