Lack of NHS investment causing dangerous delays as St Helier awaits funding

Lib Dems call for urgent investment in St Helier Hospital as NHS faces £9bn backlog

A decade of underinvestment in the NHS has created a backlog valued at £9bn to fix and maintain England’s hospitals. The backlog has rose by £2.5bn in last three years  alone. Half of the missing funding is needed for issues classed as a ‘high’ or ‘significant’ risk to staff and patients.

The chief executive of the NHS Confederation, Matthew Taylor, says that the last decade has “plagued” the UK with one of the worst records for capital investment in healthcare across all OECD countries.

The lack of investment means that 38,912 patients in Sutton were waiting to start treatment in January. 8,515 of these patients were left waiting over 18 weeks after referral.

Bobby Dean, who is campaigning to be Carshalton and Wallington’s next MP, said:

“A decade’s worth of underinvestment in the NHS means rundown buildings and growing waiting lists.

“St Helier hospital desperately needs investment now. But the Conservatives failing plan is causing dangerous delays

“They need to get their act together, it’s time to put St Helier first.”