Reports in the media over winter often focus on A&E waiting times. And, rightly so, the government takes a bashing on the state of healthcare – people are understandably dismayed by scenes of patients left in corridors, sleeping in chairs and waiting for hours (if not days) for treatment.
But we have to remember what is behind the NHS’s issues. Things didn’t get this bad under Labour. Yet we are left having to clean up the Tories’ mess.
Under the Labour government, there have been 4.2 million additional appointments in the NHS since July last year.
That’s double our target, and 100,000 more appointments a week than the Tories were doing.
We’re boosting funding and we’ve brought down waiting lists by almost a quarter of a million, the lowest level in two years.
But what does this mean for Wigan?
Planned operations in Wigan hospitals
In August 2025, 49,337 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment under the Wigan, Leigh and Wrightington trust – a decrease on 55,359 in August 2024. That’s about 11% fewer people waiting for operations, under a Labour government.
Yet why are we still seeing full A&E corridors, continued doctors’ strikes and missed targets?
The simple answer is that Labour has been left a legacy of neglect in the NHS. The Tories decimated the health service over the last 14 years, underpaying staff, failing to retain good staff and underinvesting in hospitals.
The perfect storm battered our NHS
Looking at the wider picture in Wigan, targets on operation waiting times were generally being met until September 2015, then we saw a significant decline in targets. And when the pandemic hit in 2020, many operations were cancelled, as hospitals were only dealing with the most serious cases.
In addition to these delays was the fact that many people stopped getting diagnosed at the early stages of their health issues as we were told to stay at home.
Added into the mix widespread staff strikes between 2022-2024, and the NHS really was teetering on the brink.
Until Labour got into power again last summer.
Are things really turning around?
Yes. We are still catching up with the Covid backlog on health issues but Labour has ended most staff disputes – inherited from a Tory government which did not value NHS staff as we do.
Waiting times are shrinking, and at community level pharmacists have been given a wider remit to prescribe medication for minor ailments – a move that will help to lower GP appointment waiting times in the long-run.
Labour has pledged to build 250 neighbourhood health centres and will invest £300m in NHS technology.
Our government is turning the NHS around –– but it will take time. And we need to be able to continue this good work after the next General Election.
Imagine how the NHS would be hit under a Reform government – the shift would see taxpayers’ money syphoned over to private healthcare. Inevitably, there would be less investment in the NHS. This would exacerbate the two-tier healthcare system that has already begun under the Tories, leaving the public even more reliant on private businesses to receive healthcare they should be entitled to for free. And at what cost?
We cannot let this happen.
Join the Labour Party and help us to continue improving health services in Wigan and beyond.
