Opinion - waits for cancer treatment in Northampton hit an all-time high

I started this week with trepidation. In recent weeks the Conservative Government has championed “Energy Week”, where we saw record profits made by energy companies and no drop in the cost to consumers and businesses. Then we had “Small Boats Week”, where the Conservative’s flagship scheme to deter migrant crossings in the channel, putting them in a container ship off the coast of Dorset, failed miserably because basic legionella checks on the ship were ignored.

So, as “Health Week” commenced, I feared what disasters and gaffs await us.

Unfortunately we didn’t have to wait long.

This week the Conservative Party chose to scrap targets cancer waiting times standards, just as waiting times for cancer patients in England were shown to have worsened every year since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.

Data sourced by the Labour Party through a Freedom of Information request has revealed patients at Northampton General Hospital are facing long waits for cancer care, showing that:

• Patients are waiting over a month to see a cancer specialist after their GP has urgently referred them to hospital.
• Some patients are forced to wait 7 months to start cancer treatment.

Waiting times for cancer patients in England have worsened every year since the Conservatives came to power in 2010. The latest figures revealed that the NHS met none of its cancer targets in June 2023.

The Conservatives blame everything from the weather to the pandemic and even NHS staff. But it is 13 years of their failure that has broken the system. Successive Conservative governments have left patients waiting longer for healthcare.

The Chronicle announced in June that we are finally getting a much needed Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) in Northampton. I am proud that the lobbying and pressure from Labour in opposition has driven the Government to respond. They're listening to us. Wes Streeting, Shadow Health Secretary, spoke passionately at the launch of our health mission earlier in the year about the need for more care in the community. And CDC’s deliver just that. It is positive that this is now coming to Northampton.

The Labour Party has committed to cut cancer waiting times down to safe levels. The party’s plans to deliver better cancer care include training thousands more doctors and nurses every year, providing NHS staff with up-to-date modern technology, and reforming the health service so it catches cancer earlier.

As the prospective parliamentary candidate for Northampton South, I am committed to continuing to hold the Conservative's feet to fire and fight for better healthcare services in Northampton. That means pushing for a bigger focus on care in the community, investment and innovation to tackle Britain's biggest killers (heart disease, strokes, cancer and suicide), and improving patient choice so that you can see that your doctor, when you need to, without having to face the 8am scramble to get a GP appointment.

Labour governments have fixed the Conservatives’ mess in our NHS before – and we’ll do it again, pulling every available lever to get patients treated sooner and give people the quality healthcare they deserve.