An attempt is made to bury the very bad news that is a surge in NHS waiting times

Iain Dale has spotted an attempt to bury bad news on the day that the media is focusing on Tony Blair's evidence session at the Chilcot Inquiry.

The Government has this morning quietly released the latest NHS waiting time statistics for England which read as follows:

The number of inpatients, for whom English commissioners are responsible, waiting over 13 weeks at the end of December 2009 was 57,600, an increase of 12,300 (27.3%) from November 2009, and a rise of 18,000 (45.3%) from December 2008.

The number of outpatients, for whom English commissioners are responsible, waiting over 8 weeks at the end of December 2009 was 74,100, an increase of 11,700 (18.8%) from November 2009, but a rise of 26,900 (57.0%) from December 2008.

The wheels continue to fall off the Labour wagon...

Jonathan Isaby