Elderly Harrogate patients being 'let down' by A&E waiting times warns Lib Dem candidate

Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Tom Gordon made his comments after House of Commons Library research carried out by his national party revealed that in 2023 a total of 16,362 people waited more than four hours to be seen in A&E in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

The Lib Dems say their analysis shows that there had been a 253% rise in the figures since 2019.

"The appalling delays are leaving vulnerable and elderly patients in our area waiting for hours on end in overcrowded A&Es,” said Tom Gordon.

"Nationally, nearly 3 million more people waited over four hours in A&E in 2023 compared with 2019.

“Every year A&E delays keep getting worse under this Conservative government as hospitals in our area are starved of the funding they need."

Mr Gordon blames the situation on Government under-funding and says unless “real time cuts” are reversed, the problems will persist.

"It is unthinkable that Rishi Sunak is choosing to slash funding for the NHS further, while appalling figures like this are emerging,” said Mr Gordon.

"This will just pour petrol on the flames of the NHS crisis.

“Harrogate and Knaresborough deserves so much better than this Conservative government that is ignoring the suffering of patients and driving our health service into the ground.”

The data analysis by the Lib Dems also revealed that the number of patients who waited for more than 12 hours to be seen in A&E in Harrogate and Knaresborough rose from 0 in 2019 to 317 in 2023.

In England as a whole, there were nearly 6.5 million waits of more than four hours in 2023, up nearly three million since 2019.

This comes as Liberal Democrat research claims that the NHS budget is facing a £4.7 billion cut this year when inflation is taken into account.

The Lib Dems are calling on the Government to reverse its near £5 billion of “real terms cuts” to NHS funding this year to prevent excess

patient deaths.