NHS targets

That this House acknowledges the abject failure of the last Conservative Government to meet NHS targets; notes that this failure reflected devastating mismanagement which left hospitals crumbling, operations cancelled, pensioners treated on trolleys in corridors, and doctors and nurses at breaking point; further notes that our NHS was once the envy of the world; regrets that, rather than show ambition in this moment of crisis, the Labour Government has been slow to take the action required to reach basic standards of diagnosis, treatment and waiting times; expresses alarm that the dropping of targets has seen community services, mental health, dementia, women’s health and other areas of care deprioritised; further regrets that many patients will suffer as a result; believes the Government has not lived up to its promises on prevention and care in the community; calls on the Government to be more ambitious for our NHS, and reinstate the slashed targets; further calls on the Government to fix the crisis at both the front door and the back door of the NHS by investing in public health and early access to community services so fewer people need to go to hospital in the first place, and to fix the crisis in social care which sees so many people stuck in hospital beds or unable to cope; and further believes patients in this country deserve nothing less than a first class health service which delivers the highest standards of care whenever they need it.