Labour vows to clear NHS waiting lists in five years

Labour has pledged to clear the NHS waiting list backlog within five years, with Wes Streeting warning the health service risks becoming "a poor service for poor people" while the wealthy shift to using private care.

- Peter Walker ,Andrew Gregory

In an interview with the Guardian, the shadow health secretary said another Conservative term could result in the total waiting list growing to 10 million people, with healthcare becoming as degraded as NHS dental services.

"I really fear that if Rishi Sunak wins another term, what we've seen happen to NHS dentistry - which is a poor service for poor people and everyone else going private - that is what we will see for the whole NHS," Streeting said. In what will be one of Labour's most prominent and ambitious pledges of the election, Streeting and Keir Starmer will use a campaign visit to the West Midlands to promise that the backlog of about 3.2 million people in England currently waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment will be cleared within five years.

The party has previously set out plans to use more weekend and evening services to create 40,000 extra appointments a week, along with other measures such as expanding staff provision and using capacity from the private health sector. However, this is the first time Labour has made such a specific promise on waiting lists. Healthcare analysts said it could prove tricky to implement.

Streeting said he was aware of the weight of responsibility to deliver the promise, but as someone who was treated by the NHS for kidney cancer he felt it was now his "driving purpose" to achieve it.