• 1.4 million people’s work suffering due to NHS backlog
• Raab: Sunak must withdraw Conservative Whip

1.4 million people’s work suffering due to NHS backlog

1.4 million people currently waiting for NHS treatment are seeing their work affected by it, new figures have revealed.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said the figures showed Rishi Sunak is breaking two of his key pledges, to grow the economy and bring down NHS waiting lists. He warned this record of failure meant millions were being “left in limbo,” with many unable to return to work while they wait for treatment. The Liberal Democrats will today set out a plan to bring down NHS wait times, get people back into work more quickly and boost the economic recovery.

The Office for National Statistics survey found that more than one in five adults report they are waiting for a hospital appointment, test, or to start receiving medical treatment through the NHS. Of these, 19% said waiting for NHS treatment had affected their work, equivalent to over 1.4 million people across the country. The survey suggests 350,000 people have reduced their hours and 140,000 have gone on long-term sick leave in the past month as a result of waiting for NHS treatment.

The latest figures showed that a record 7.22 million people were waiting to start routine hospital treatment at the end of February, despite Rishi Sunak’s flagship pledge to bring down NHS waiting lists.

Separate figures from the IPPR have suggested that clearing waiting lists more quickly could add an extra £18 billion to the economy over the next five years, through people returning to work or increasing the number of hours worked.

The Liberal Democrat proposals to bring down waiting lists would include a “traffic control” system, giving patients the option to travel for surgery to areas with shorter wait times if they are able to. NHS workers would be offered extra pay at weekends and for out of hours care, funded by the government, allowing more treatments to be scheduled.

The Liberal Democrats are also calling for an advice centre for those on NHS waiting lists, providing tailored advice to ensure everyone is ready for their scheduled surgery and prevent avoidable cancellations. As many as one in five surgery cancellations are caused by patient-related reasons such as not being medically fit for a scheduled operation, not having fasted, or taking medications that should have been stopped.

This would include giving people a guaranteed appointment with a GP within a week and introducing a higher minimum wage for care workers to fill the vacancies in social care, helping to reduce the burden on overstretched hospitals.

20% of adults waiting for treatment reported having had a medical appointment cancelled or delayed in the past month, equivalent to more than two million people. 61% reported that it had negatively affected their well-being while 41% said it has impacted their ability to exercise. The survey also suggests that more than three million people paid for private medical treatment in the past month because they felt the NHS wait was too long.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Rishi Sunak is breaking two of his key pledges, to grow the economy and bring down NHS waiting lists. You can’t do one without the other.

Millions of people are being left in limbo on NHS waiting lists under this Conservative government. Ministers have let the NHS crisis spiral out of control, failed to deliver the new hospitals they promised and failed to tackle chronic staff shortages.

This record of failure is damaging people’s lives and hampering our economic recovery, as people are left waiting months or even years for treatment.

We need a rescue plan for the NHS and our economy, to get people off waiting lists and allow them to return to work. If patients could see their GP when they need to or get the care they need at home, it would free up hospital resources to treat people far more quickly.

Raab: Sunak must withdraw Conservative Whip

The Liberal Democrats have written to Rishi Sunak calling on him to withdraw the Conservative whip from Dominic Raab.

In a letter to Sunak, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said that Raab has shown he is not fit to represent his constituents, and called for the Conservative whip to be withdrawn if he refuses to resign as an MP.

It comes after Dominic Raab resigned from his Cabinet position and showed little remorse in his Telegraph column following publication of the Tolley report that upheld bullying allegations.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Now that bullying allegations against Dominic Raab have been upheld, it is clear that he is simply not fit to represent his constituents in Parliament.

If Raab refuses to stand down as an MP, Rishi Sunak surely has no choice but to withdraw the Conservative whip.

Allowing Raab to stay sends a message that this inexcusable bullying behaviour is okay for an MP. Sunak must act swiftly if he’s serious about restoring integrity to this sleaze-ridden Conservative government.