Even the prime minister must see that the Conservatives have failed the NHS

Editorial: Rishi Sunak’s apology for falling short on his key pledge to reduce waiting lists barely covers the mounting problems the NHS now faces. For these, there will be no quick fix – but, as a country, we deserve better

Rishi Sunak admitted on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV show that he had not met his ‘key pledge’ to cut NHS waiting lists (Piers Morgan Uncensored/TalkTV)

Whichever polling you look at, voters see the ailing state of the NHS as one of the country’s top priorities.

According to the latest “public opinions and social trends” survey from the Office for National Statistics, 89 per cent of people cited the health service as the most critical issue facing the country, behind only the cost of living (93 per cent), with the overall economy not far behind. YouGov consistently has “health” in the top two most important issues for Britons, and other polling companies show similar results.

It is obvious, then, why Rishi Sunak made “cutting NHS waiting lists” one of his five key pledges for his administration. But just over a year later, he has admitted that he has failed to meet his target, even if he did not put a timeframe on the initial pledge. “We have not made enough progress,” he said in an interview with Piers Morgan.

While there has been a fall in waiting lists for routine treatment in recent months, the total in November, the last publicly available statistics, stood at 7.61 million treatments still to be carried out, compared to 7.21 million when Mr Sunak made his pledge in January 2023.

In his interview, the prime minister was at pains to point out the level of investment the government has put into the health service, insisting his party has not failed the NHS since coming to power in 2010. Yes, the pandemic and the level of strike action in recent years has heaped pressure on health services – but reporting by The Independent has consistently shown that issues have continued to build across the last decade or more.

Recently, in particular, our health correspondent Rebecca Thomas has highlighted the plight of those in mental health hospitals, from tens of thousands of reports of sexual assaults and incidents in the last five years, to healthy patients being trapped in hospitals and units for years and allegations of abuse.

It signals a system not fit for purpose, especially when taken with the wider picture about staffing – with thousands of surgeons citing burnout in surveys, and one in two considering leaving their jobs. The costs to fix the NHS’s crumbling buildings also continue to grow.

It is clear there will be no quick fix to the problems the NHS faces, but the government – whichever party is in control – needs to make sure that a long-term plan is put in place to ensure that people get the level of treatment they need, and should be able to expect. If, as current polling would suggest, it is Sir Keir Starmer who ends up walking into Downing Street after the election, whenever it is held, then the NHS has to be a priority. Technology such as artificial intelligence should be harnessed to make a difference where it can, and innovation has to be part of a modern health service, but Sir Keir should be aware that waiting lists will be what the public will have their eyes on.

YouGov polling suggests that more than half of the country expects the NHS to get even worse over the next few years, so a clear vision to make a positive difference to the state of the health service should bring dividends at the ballot box. Polling guru Sir John Curtice recently told The Independent that Mr Sunak had blundered by not focusing his efforts on the economy and the NHS. The pledge to stop Channel crossings and elements of the culture wars have taken up far too much of the Conservative Party’s bandwidth in comparison. “People are asking two main questions: ‘Can I afford to feed my kids?’ and, ‘If I fall ill, will the NHS look after me?’,” he said.

Both parties would do well to remember that – particularly with conditions such as cancer and obesity set to put further pressure on the health service. Mr Sunak’s admission of failure on waiting lists has the potential to do significant harm at the ballot box, but the wider issues remain. Britain deserves a health system that can deal with the needs of its citizens, and it is up to the government to do everything in its power to make that possible. Whichever party is in Downing Street.