Labour embarrassed over claims of 'massive increase' in NHS appointments as analysis reveals rise was smaller than under Tories

Daily Mail​

23-05-2025

Labour has been accused of exaggerating a rise in NHS appointments after figures revealed increases were lower than under the Tories.
Figures obtained by the news verification charity Full Fact found that the 3.6 million additional hospital appointments provided between July and February this year was significantly lower than the 4.2 million extra during the same eight-month period a year previously under the Tories.
The data undermines claims that Labour had got to grips with the NHS waiting list crisis after 14 years of Tory rule, because the figures were already improving under Rishi Sunak 's Goverment.
Labour rode to General Election victory with a manifesto which included a promise to 'deliver an extra two million NHS operations, scans, and appointments every year' in England.
But Full Fact's figures, obtained from the NHS under Freedom of Information laws, suggest a slowing down in activity under Labour.
Edward Argar MP, Shadow Secretary of State Health and Social Care, accused the Government - and Health Secretary Wes Streeting - of misleading the public.
He said: 'What Labour has tried to spin as delivering a manifesto commitment is, in reality, a marginal increase in the overall total, that reflects long-standing and pre-existing trends in more appointments. This is a weak attempt by the Government to claim credit for something that was already happening.
'What Wes Streeting needs to do is talk less, and deliver more - we need to see real and meaningful reform that will genuinely move the dial for patients.'
West Streeting, pictured, previously said Labour has ushers in a 'massive increase' in NHS hospital appointments - something contradicted by NHS data
Earlier this year, Mr Streeting said 'real progress' had been made in tackling the 'disastrous waiting list we inherited' when Labour came to power last summer.
He said: 'We have overseen a massive increase in appointments available to meet rising demand, reduced long waits and helped people get diagnosed quicker.'
In percentage terms, the 3.6 million rise is 7.7 per cent more than in the same eight-month period the year before.
But it follows rises of 10.1 per cent and 8.0 per cent in the previous two years under the Tories, Full Fact said.
Leo Benedictus, a journalist with the charity, said: 'This new data adds much-needed context to the Government's claims about the NHS, and it should not have required a Freedom of Information request for it to be released.
'If politicians are unwilling to be transparent about their promises, voters have every reason to wonder what is hidden in the small print they don't share.'
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: 'On entering office last July, the Secretary of State was advised that the fiscal blackhole meant elective appointments would have to be cut by 20,000 every week.
'Instead, this government provided the extra investment and has already delivered 3.6 million additional appointments – more than the manifesto commitment the British public voted for – while also getting more patients seen within 18 weeks.
'Waiting lists have fallen faster since July than any year since 2009. In the nine months since this government took office, the waiting list has dropped by over 200,000 - more than five times as much as it had over the same period the previous year - and also fell for six consecutive months in a row. We are making progress where it matters.