British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to improve waiting times in the health system. But millions of people in England are currently waiting for planned treatment.
Millions of people in England are currently waiting for a planned procedure in hospital – and this could continue to be the case in the coming years, despite promises from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. This is the result of a study by the think tank Institute for Fiscal Studies. At the end of December, there were around 7.6 million cases on the NHS waiting list who were scheduled for an inpatient or outpatient procedure.
That is almost 400,000 more than a year ago and around 3 million more than in times before the pandemic, the institute wrote. The Prime Minister has not achieved the goal he set a year ago. Nevertheless, there is reason for hope. The number of cases on the waiting list fell for three months in a row at the end of 2023.
Sunak had made it one of his most important goals to reduce waiting times in the health system. His conservative Tories have been in power in Great Britain for 14 years. In polls they are currently behind the opposition Labor party. The British must elect a new parliament by January 2025 at the latest.
“The next government could well inherit a waiting list in England whose numbers are declining,” said study author Max Warner. But even if the trend points in the right direction, the list will be longer than before and it is unlikely that this will change soon. “Even in an optimistic scenario, we assume that the waiting list in four years will still be higher than at the beginning of the pandemic.”
Source: Stern
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