SLOUGH MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi writes exclusively to the Observer:

With a record over 7 million people on the waiting list for hospital treatment, nearly 50% of patients waiting over 4 hours at A&E and cancer targets being missed, it’s clear our NHS is in crisis.

While there is no doubt that Covid created additional pressures for the health service, this is an issue that predates the pandemic. Waiting lists have been soaring since the Tories came into power and there is still a failure to recruit enough staff, with the vacancy rate rising from 7.6% to 9.7% last year.

That is having a direct impact on Slough, because Frimley Health NHS Trust had to cancel 768 operations last year, with 178 being directly a result of staffing shortages. It’s a failure of the Government training and retaining enough staff.

We must tackle this issue at its root, training a new generation of doctors by doubling the number of medical school places and increasing the number of nurses and midwives. It can be paid for by abolishing Non-Dom tax status.

Healthcare is a right and people deserve to get the treatment they need, so they can get on with their lives.