Keir Starmer has announced that NHS England delivered over two million more
appointments between July and November 2024 than during the same period in 2023.
Delivering two million extra appointments in a year was a key aim in the party’s manifesto, which it met seven months early.
These appointments include various non-emergency services such as diagnostic tests, scans, chemotherapy, and surgeries.
Edinburgh Labour Students (ELS) told The Student that it “wholeheartedly supports the Labour Government’s substantial investment” into England’s NHS, adding that “this Labour Government keeps its promises.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, writing about Scotland’s NHS in the Daily Record, said that “The SNP has broken our NHS” and left it “on its knees – unable to support the people of Scotland and pushing nurses and doctors to the limit.”
ELS told us that under “the failed SNP Government,” patients are “increasingly turning to private healthcare options due to prolonged waiting times.”
Ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election, Sarwar said: “We can’t go on like this. That’s why any Scottish government led by me would fix our NHS.”
A recent Norstat poll finds that support for the Scottish Labour party has fallen by about half since last year. Sarwar acknowledged that this poses a “challenge,” but is “confident” that the party can win.
ELS added that the Labour Party “founded the NHS, and we will fix it in 2026 if we are fortunate enough to be elected. Scotland needs a new direction, and Scottish Labour is ready.”
“Anas Sarwar” by Scottish Labour is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.