Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the latest NHS combined performance data for May 2018, said:

“Today the new Health Secretary learns the reality of what eight years of Tory cuts and privatisation means for patients.

“4.3 million patients on the waiting list and over 200,000 waiting over 6 months exposes an NHS that has been pushed to the brink. Behind every statistic is a real person whose life is on hold waiting longer and longer in pain, distress and anxiety for treatment.

“The test of the new Health Secretary is to rapidly bring these waiting lists down. Patients and their families have been let down too often. They deserve better and will expect action.”