Dear Editor
The recent deterioration in waiting times in the Accident and Emergency Department at St George’s Hospital is very concerning with more than 17% having to wait more than 4 hours (w/e 14th Dec). This is more than the national average, itself the worst for a decade.
The Tory LibDem Government has made it harder to see a GP by cutting funding for later opening hours and scrapping Labour’s guarantee of an appointment within 48 hours, saying this was “no longer a priority".
As a consequence over a quarter of the public say they can’t get an appointment in the same week. Understandably, many people who might otherwise visit their GP end up in A&E departments that are already under severe financial and staffing pressure.
The Coalition Government claims to be protecting NHS budgets, but the truth is they are inducing cuts in services and growing indebtedness. Only a Labour Government will restore NHS funding to where it needs to be. The NHS already has a bad cold. The return of the Tories and Lib Dems in the general election with a ‘back to the 1930s’ agenda would induce pneumonia.
Andrew Judge
Labour Candidate for Wimbledon
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January 2, 2015