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Rishi Sunak has admitted the government has failed to deliver on its promise to reduce England’s NHS waiting list.
The Prime Minister said the government was “not making enough progress” but industrial action in the health service was “having an impact”.
Mr Sunak made the comments in an interview with Talk TV’s Piers Morgan.
“NHS waiting lists will come down and people will get the care they need sooner,” he said at the time, but did not set a deadline for achieving that.
Asked by Mr Morgan if the government was failing to meet its commitments, Mr Sunak said: “Yes, it is.”
The Prime Minister continued: ‘I want to say to the public that we have invested record amounts in the NHS, increasing the number of doctors, nurses and scanners.
“All of this means the NHS is working more than ever before, but industrial action is having an impact.”
A strike by nurses and some other health workers ended last summer following a pay deal with the government.
However, conflicts with junior doctors and consultants continue, and strikes continue.
This comment came a month after Sunak. Said In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday program Laura Kuenssberg, he predicted that measures to reduce waiting times would start coming into force in spring 2024.
As of November 2023, the overall number of people waiting for non-emergency treatment in the UK was around 7.6 million.
Although the number of people waiting has decreased slightly compared to the previous month, the number is about 400,000 more people than at the beginning of 2023.
The Prime Minister’s hour-long interview with Mr Morgan is scheduled to be broadcast later on Monday.
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