Margaret Greenwood MP raises concerns over NHS waiting lists in Wirral

Parliament has been dissolved until after the general election and I am no longer an MP.

Margaret Greenwood, the MP for Wirral West, has raised concerns after figures revealed that, as of July, more than 42,000 people were on waiting lists for hospital treatment with Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. 

The exact figure, according to data by NHS England, stands at 42,631 people. 

Of those waiting, a total of 1,459 had been waiting for longer than a year. The NHS Constitution sets out that patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, but 41% of patients on waiting lists locally are waiting longer than that. 

Figures across England have reached record highs, with waiting lists nationally at nearly 7.7 million. 

This is despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stating back in January that cutting NHS waiting lists is one of his priorities for 2023. Back then he pledged: “NHS waiting lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly”. 

Margaret Greenwood MP said: 

“The figures showing waiting lists for treatment in Wirral are truly shocking. They demonstrate the abject failure of Conservative governments to fund and staff the NHS properly for over a decade. 

“People should not be having to wait for over 18 weeks from referral to treatment. Behind these statistics are thousands of people waiting, many in pain and many in a state of anxiety. 

“Staff at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, including at Arrowe Park Hospital, work incredibly hard. They too are affected by the under-investment in the NHS that we have seen for years. 

“Across England as a whole, waiting lists are at almost 7.7 million. The situation is devastating for both patients and staff. 

“The crisis that we are seeing in the NHS is of the government's own making. They have failed to give it the funding and staff that it needs.  

“It is a major concern too that Integrated Care Boards, the new local decision-making bodies in the NHS in England, will have to make average efficiency savings of almost 6% – the equivalent of around £6 billion nationally – to meet their financial requirements this year.  

"These so called ‘efficiency savings’ are cuts by any other name and will only make matters worse. 

“The NHS needs to be properly funded so that staff can give patients the treatment that they need in a timely manner. The current situation is wholly unacceptable, and I call on the government to step up and give this crucial public service the resources it needs.”