Rishi Sunak has been dealt another blow as official figures showed NHS waiting lists have increased.
Official statistics published on Thursday showed the waiting list for planned NHS treatment in England rose in April to 7.57 million, up from 7.54 million in March.
It comes after the prime minister was booed on live TV last night when he appeared to blame striking junior doctors for his failure to keep his pledge to bring them down.
Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said the figures had “blown a hole in Rishi Sunak’s claim that the NHS has turned a corner”.
“He promised to cut waiting lists, but they are 350,000 longer today than when he became prime minister,” he said.
“He can’t blame NHS staff - there were no strikes last month yet waiting lists still rose. The blame lies solely with the Conservatives.”
While Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem health spokesperson, said Sunak should “apologise to the public” for failing to meet his pledge.
“The prime minister getting booed by the public over soaring waiting lists last night shows just how angry people are with his record of failure,” she said.
“This adds to the long list of broken Conservative promises on the NHS from hospitals that were never built to GPs who were never recruited.
“Millions of patients are being failed dismally under this Conservative government, left waiting in pain for the treatment they need.”
But Patricia Marquis, the executive director of the Royal College of Nursing England, issued a warning to Keir Starmer ahead of an expected Labour election victory.
“Waiting lists are up and there will be no place to hide for the next government when it comes to bringing them down,” she said.
“Excuses, vague promises and unambitious levels of investment will not get patients the care they need. Politicians with their eyes on No. 10 need to wake up to that fact.
“Nursing staff deliver the vast majority of care in the health service but there are tens of thousands of empty posts.
’There is no hope of reducing waiting lists without action to boost recruitment and improve retention.
“That must include delivering a substantial, above inflation pay rise in the first 100 days of the new government.”
The waiting lists figures come just one day after it was revealed the economy had flatlined, with zero growth in April.