The old pattern of the NHS winter crisis is well and truly back under this government.

The announcement that thousands of non emergency operations planned for this month will be delayed leaves people waiting in pain and anxiety. When Labour were in power we reduced waiting times for non emergency surgery to a maximum of 18 weeks. Some people are now waiting for longer than that and this week’s announcement only makes that situation worse. The Tories are doing what they did in the past – rationing health care through making people wait because they have not funded the NHS with the resources it needs. It took a Labour Government to save the NHS and turn it around last time and looks like it will need that again.