Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting also promised to rebuild five other London hospitals if Labour wins in July, reports Cosmic Thapa and Marco Marcelline
Labour has committed to rebuilding Whipps Cross University Hospital as well as five other London hospitals if the party wins the general election.
These hospitals are part of the 40 new hospitals by 2030 that Conservatives promised in the 2019 general election.
Wes Streeting, shadow health secretary said: “Rishi Sunak failed to keep his promises to cut waiting lists or build a single new hospital. Given another five years in charge, he’ll fail again and waiting lists will hit 10 million.
“Only Labour has a plan to deliver the change our NHS needs”.
Labour has set out its commitment to deliver the programme as part of the party’s stated plan to repair the NHS and maintain it in the future.
To cut record-long waiting lists, Labour says it aims to deliver 40,000 extra appointments a week at evenings and weekends.
The party says it will fund this by “clamping down on tax dodgers and closing non-dom loopholes”.
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Meanwhile, in a video posted to his Facebook page, Chingford and Woodford Green MP Iain Duncan Smith said the money for a Whipps Cross rebuild was there but it just needed to be “signed off”.
A Conservative Party spokesperson responded to Labour’s hospital commitment, saying: “Keir Starmer’s No New Hospitals programme would pause all NHS capital projects, putting the future of all 40 new hospitals at risk.
“Meanwhile we remain to committed to our New Hospitals Programme, and six new hospitals are already open, two more will be open this year, and 18 are in construction, and we will build all 40 new hospitals by 2030.
“Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have a clear plan and have taken bold action, not only committing to building 40 new hospitals by 2030, but also opening 160 community diagnostic centres a year ahead of the original target and will deliver 50 sites, alongside building and modernising 250 GP surgeries.”
The spokesperson added: “The choice could not be clearer: stick with the Conservatives for a brighter future or risk going back to square one with Labour.”
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