'Crack teams' will cut NHS waiting lists, vows Starmer

Cutting NHS waiting lists will be the first step in a Labour government's plan to get the health service back on its feet, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

- STORM NEWTON

The Labour leader pledged to create a health service that is “there for everyone" ahead of a visit to the West Midlands today.

If it wins the general election, Labour will initially focus on reducing treatment backlogs, which currently stand at 7.54 million. The party claims the figure could rise to 10 million if the Conservatives are in office for another five years.

Labour’s first step would be to create an additional 40,000 appointments, scans and operations each week during evenings and weekends. It also vowed to double the numbers of scanners in a bid to diagnose patients earlier.

The Labour leader also pledged to send “crack teams” who are already running out-of-hours programmes into hospitals to help set up evening and weekend clinics in the rest of the health service.

Sir Keir said: “Putting the NHS back in its feet and making fit for the future is personal for me. It runs through my family like a stick of rock, which is why one of my five missions is to turn it around after 14 years of Conservative decline.