Even the prime minister must see that the Conservatives have failed the NHS

Editorial: Rishi Sunak’s apology for falling short on his key pledge to reduce waiting lists barely covers the mounting problems the NHS now faces. For these, there will be no quick fix – but, as a country, we deserve better

Rishi Sunak admitted on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV show that he had not met his ‘key pledge’ to cut NHS waiting lists (Piers Morgan Uncensored/TalkTV)

Whichever polling you look at, voters see the ailing state of the NHS as one of the country’s top priorities.

According to the latest “public opinions and social trends” survey from the Office for National Statistics, 89 per cent of people cited the health service as the most critical issue facing the country, behind only the cost of living (93 per cent), with the overall economy not far behind. YouGov consistently has “health” in the top two most important issues for Britons, and other polling companies show similar results.

It is obvious, then, why Rishi Sunak made “cutting NHS waiting lists” one of his five key pledges for his administration. But just over a year later, he has admitted that he has failed to meet his target, even if he did not put a timeframe on the initial pledge. “We have not made enough progress,” he said in an interview with Piers Morgan.