General Election in May rumour

[Viviennemary]

I heard this would be a possibility. Then saw an article today right down at the bottom of the topics on the DM website. I don't usually even scroll that far down. Can't see it myself as Tories not very popular. I will be voting Labour. Not that keen on them but certainly won't be voting Tory. Don't much like Greens or Lib Dems.

much of this was through PFI’s that cost the NHS a substantial amount out of their budget to pay back

That was at a huge cost to the taxpayer, it still is, off the gov books though

It'll be interesting without it or other extra funding

NHS waiting times started to increase from about 2012, coinciding with Lansley reforms.

https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/chart-of-the-week-how-has-the-waiting-list-changed-over-the-years

Can we somehow blame Labour for that?

it was borrowed money that increased the services under Labour

money that had to be paid back and at huge costs out of the budget

alarge sections of the NHS were privatised under labour to make it more competitive so we had value for money and shiny new hospital

it was a ticking time bomb and now it’s all falling apart

its actually shameful that no major party is willing to be honest

Really?

The UK population has risen by 5 million since 2011 though. You would need to know how many people attended A & E in 2011 compared to 2023 for those figures to have any significant meaning. Plus we've since had COVID to contend with.

Yes and off the government books

There is nothing that is going to justify those figures. The Tories have willingly destroyed the NHS.

I will see if I can find figures on A&E attendance, though for 2011 and 2023.

Numbers have remained remarkably stable.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/378338/total-accident-and-emergency-attendances-in-england/

What has that got to do with the NHS PFI debts ?

I do not think the Tories have managed the country better but I do not think they are purely to blame for how dysfunctional the NHS is now

How can NHS trusts manage to pay such huge amounts they simply can’t. The NHS has been mismanaged by both Labour and the Tories one underfunding the other funding at costs that can’t be covered in the long run

So am I reading that table correctly, that it's roughly 6,000 for the first quarter? So where does the figure of 54,308 quoted by IClaudine come from?

No idea. That table shows the total number of attendances which has risen very little in the last 14 years.

Source for figures.

twitter.com/liamthorpecho/status/1756602456945856569?s=46&t=Uw4lJNwxFZFnX0Xs3doHYg

I haven't got time to look for individual months as I want to go and watch Sunak being cringeworthy on telly, but:

2010/11 there were 16.2 million A&E attendances

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-accident--emergency-activity/2010-11#:~:text=A%26E%20HES%20data%20contains%20over,minor%20injury%20units%20in%20England.

2022/23 there were 25.3 million.

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-accident--emergency-activity/2022-23#:~:text=This%20is%20an%20increase%20of,per%20cent%20since%202011%2D12.&text=For%202022%2D23%2C%2070.8%20per,hours%20or%20less%20in%20A%26E.

So a big jump, but in no way justifies that mad increase in 12 hour + wait figures.

Sources:

6 million, not 6 thousand? The bit at the side of the graph tells you the figures are in thousands, so 6,000 x 1,000 = 6 million? I think.

If only 6,000 people per quarter attended A&E per quarter we would be in clover!

IClaudine - 6 million makes a lot more sense 😁