00:00I totally understand why when people look at the waiting list size compared to when we came to
00:05office, people might look at how much progress we've made in 20 months and say, well, if you
00:09did that all over again in the next 20 months, you're never going to hit that target on time.
00:13That is obviously true. But our plan isn't based on maintaining the pace we've built up. It's about
00:18building momentum over time. However, I know if I go into the next general election saying
00:28we've hit the waiting time standard. We've taken it from 18 months to 18 weeks, but there
00:35are still queues of ambulances outside hospitals. There are still trolleys on corridors and other,
00:40you know, people aren't getting cancer diagnoses and treatment on time. I'm not going to be
00:46greeted on the doorstep by overwhelming praise and a grateful British public. People will
00:51be saying, oh, it's all very well you're sorting out those waiting times, but what are you doing
00:54about the rest of it? So what we, what we're striving to do, what we're showing signs of
00:59already and what I believe we will be able to show by the next general election is that
01:03the NHS is far better then than it was when Labour came to office.
Comments