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The Labour Party took government in 1997 with the promise of “saving the NHS”.
During the Major years he had struggled to reverse much of the damage done by Thatcher, and although he was a constant and passionate exponent if the NHS, was largely unsuccessful in reversing much of the funding cuts inflicted on the NHS by Thatcher.
The NHS was perceived to be in crises by the time the Labour government took control in 1997.
The Kings Fund produced a progress report from 1997 to 2010 measuring progress against a number of criteria.
* Between 1997 and 2010 funding for the NHS doubled.
*progress during those 13 years had been considerable
*the NHS was high performing in a number of areas
* more people were being seen, more quickly.
A number of important achievements are highlighted, including major reductions in waiting times and rates of health care associated infections and progress in reducing smoking rates. There has been a concerted effort to implement national standards of care for major diseases across the NHS which has contributed to the continued falls in deaths from cancer and cardiovascular disease.
There are less obvious changes too, including improvements in data collection and reporting, at a national and local level. There is now far more information about performance in the public domain, accessible to patients, carers and members of the public, than ever before.
The report concluded
Despite the challenges the future holds, the next government must build on the progress made and aspire to create an NHS that can deliver quality to all patients, in all areas, all of the time.
So now let’s turn to what has happened to this progress since 1997 and whether it has been maintained over the past 10 years.
Cancer waiting times.
The Labour government had reduced the waiting time, with 85% of patients waiting no more than 62 days to first definitive treatment.
Anyone who has been unfortunate enough to have suffered from cancer like me will know how terrifying the wait is.
Between 2009 and 2014 the target of 85% was consistently reached and in most cases exceeded. So less than a total of 15% of people with suspected cancer were having to face that awful wait.
From 2014 the target was failed and has not once returned to the 85% since then. In fact it is climbing and by 2017 was consistently about 20% of people having to wait and is still climbing.
We all know that cancer success rates are related to early intervention.
I expect the NHS cancer mortality rates will almost certainly deteriorate.
The damning cancer wait times that labour are quoting to condemn theit opponent are UK wide overall failire rates. They have been implying that this is their opponent's fault when actually the figures include Wales. Who are failing cancer patients very badly. England is doing a much better job!
I will be interested to see the report on wales as without that it is difficult to comment.
notnana
Perhaps you can let me know exactly what you mean only I can’t see how the report on the NHS in England can be affected by the figures in Wales. They would have their own separate report
And wait times are just the start of it! Once you do get seen in Wales you do not have the same treatment options that you would have had if diagnosed elsewhere in the UK.
Wale's cancer target rates are so bad that they make the UK fail overall. When actually England Scotland and NI are generally doing quite well!
Perhaps if cancer wait times are close to your heart you will ask your labour candidate how they plan to avoid their Welsh labour colleagues mistakes, and keep up the good standards that have been established by their competition elsewhere?
*Let me repeat
This isn’t Labour propaganda.
These are reports by The Kings Fund and The Nuffield Trust.*
Let me repeat, the figures are accurate.
Labour using the figures to condemn the Tories when it is their Wales colleagues who are responsible for dragging down UK stats is when it becomes propoganda.
You can use accurate stats to lie!
Boris Johnson referred to "the 40 new hospitals that we are building"
The government pledged billions of pounds for hospital projects across England, at the start of the Conservative Party conference last month.
But while the plans include a £2.7bn investment for six hospitals over five years, a further 34 hospitals will share only an initial £100m in funding to start developing future projects.
A substantial amount of extra money would be needed to bring those plans to fruition.
So it's not correct to suggest that 40 new hospitals are currently being built.
Fact checks
Claim: Jeremy Corbyn said there were 33,000 nurse vacancies at the moment in the NHS
Reality Check: The Labour leader made this claim while talking about the state of the health service under the Conservatives. It's a bit of an understatement - there are currently 39,500 nursing vacancies in the NHS in England, according to figures from NHS Improvement.
notnana
Let me repeat
This isn’t Labour propaganda.
These are reports by The Kings Fund and The Nuffield Trust.
You aren’t surely suggesting that they are in thrall to the Labour Party????
I have posted examples on the labour thread. Although you could yourself dig a bit deeper before re posting labour propoganda.
EllanVannin, I must live fairly close to you and have had fantastic treatment from Wirral Teaching Hospitals. Very kind and efficient staff.
oopsminty does cba stand for haven’t a clue I might have just made it up a bit?
A lot depends on your GP and of course the hospital which serves you as to whether you get the earliest appointment for a cancer diagnosis-----from GP to hospital, 2 weeks at most.
Where I live there doesn't appear to be a problem.
We also have a good local walk-in centre for minor injuries which helps take the heat off the main general hospital.
The Clatterbridge cancer centre isn't far from where I live and that hospital treats many from around the country as well as the Isle of Man where most are flown over for treatment.
If it wasn't for Brexit these places would have ample staff but because there are quite a few from other countries including the Eastern Bloc, the poor souls don't know if they're coming or going and are uncertain about their futures.
Damn Brexit and all it stands for !!
Cba
notonan if you can find an accurate report if you are keen to show what’s happening to Wales, I will be interested. But I would be careful what you wish for ?
Oh they are accurate as whole UK figures.
Look into how much NHS Wales's failures are affecting the bigger picture though...
oopsminty do you have a reference for your statements or are they just gossip?
I assume that you are aware that the reports etc are produced by the Kingsfund And Nuffield Trust?
You couldn’t get a more accurate picture of the state of our NHS and the chaos the Tories are causing.
Tax payers good money was used to progress the NHS to a standard that was beginning to be the pride of the UK and recognised all over the world for its outstanding level of care.
From 2010 the Tories trashed everything the tax payer had achieved and made such deep cuts in the funding that b6 2014 the poor NHS began to creak at the seams, it is now in such a poor state that many fear that areas like A&E will implode.
The Tories are entirely to blame.
Also I was working for the NHS under Blair.
One of their 'brilliant' ideas was stopping people waiting now than 4 hours in A&E.
They did this by moving the patients to a different room
Genius
Have you mentioned the Labour Party introducing partial privatisation in 2003?
The labour party are using UK stats without admitting that the reason some overall cancer performance figures are so bad is because NHS Wales is doing SO badly under labour that it is dragging down the figures for the whole of the UK!
Dr Phil Hammond
@drphilhammond
Dear
@BorisJohnson
&
@MattHancock
, for the avoidance of doubt, could you please name the 40 new hospitals, the timescale for completion, the cost, how the need for each was determined & precisely what you mean by ‘new’ and ‘hospital’? Thank you.
That's a handy slogan for the Labour Party, but the truth is that without the moderating influence of the LibDems in coalition austerity would have been a great deal worse. The 2010-15 government now looks quite benign compared with the unadulterated Tory regime of the last four and a half years
Not sure why.
The Lib-dems are complicit in the austerity inflicted on the NHS
correction- only 19% (not 219%) in 2017, compared with 31% now.
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