MORE EVIDENCE THAT THE TORIES CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH THE NHS

FIGURES released by the Department of Health have shown waiting times for NHS treatment are on the rise – with people in Derby suffering from the increases.

Since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition took control of Britain, the numbers of people waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment have risen by a shocking 27 per cent.

The numbers of people waiting longer than 18 weeks for treatment in Derby have rocketed during the same period.

Just 3.6 per cent of patients in Derby waited more than 18 weeks during Labour’s last month in Government. But that figure had risen to an incredible 15.7 per cent in February.

The Government has spent so long pushing to get its Health Bill through Parliament, against the advice of health professionals, that it has allowed waiting times to slip once again.

Labour left the lowest NHS waiting times since records began but, under the Tories, it looks like the NHS is heading straight back to the bad old days of the last time they were in Government.

Patients in Derby are paying the price for a disastrous decision to reorganise the NHS at a time of financial stress.

These figures are a huge embarrassment for a Prime Minister who promised to keep NHS waiting times low.

At PMQs on 8 February this year David Cameron said: “We are putting the money in, we are putting the reform in, the number of operations is up, the waiting times are down, the NHS is improving, and that is the way it is going to stay.”

At PMQs the week before he said: “The right hon. Gentleman should look at what is actually happening in the health service. Waiting times are down”.

He is also on record saying: “We will not break up or hinder efficient and integrated care - we will improve it.” He claimed: “We will not lose control of waiting times – we will ensure they are kept low. And he has also said: “We will not cut spending on the NHS - we will increase it."

Even on his own test, he is failing patients and the public. It has been said before, but these latest figures confirm that you cannot trust the Tories (or their Lib Dem poodles) with the NHS.