PM 'MISLEADING' OVER A&E TIMES
Labour has accused David Cameron of "cynical spin" on hospital waiting times, after analysis by the House of Commons Library raised questions over his claim that waits are getting shorter.
At Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons yesterday, Mr Cameron boasted that the "average waiting time" in NHS hospitals had fallen from 77 minutes under the Labour administration to just 30 under the coalition.
But an analysis of the figures published by the House of Commons Library said that the data "does not support the Prime Minister's statement", which relied on a "simplistic reading" of statistics.
Mr Cameron's claim related to a measure which "is not the most natural indicator of the `average waiting time' in A&E", found the analysis.
Rather than looking at average waits for treatment - which has been "static save for seasonal variation" since the change in government - or total time spent in A&E - which has been "steadily rising" - Mr Cameron's figure related to the average time after arrival in casualty before patients are first assessed, the analysis said.
And rather than highlighting the "median" average, which "has remained more or less unchanged at around 10 minutes" since 2008, Mr Cameron pointed to the "mean" average, which showed a dramatic fall from more than 70 minutes to around 30 after April 2011, which was the date when time to initial assessment in A&E was designated as a "care quality indicator" and became subject to mandatory reporting.
The House of Commons Library said that evidence suggested that "the mean value here is not a good indicator of time to initial assessment in A&E, so we should rely on the median value to tell us what the typical time to initial assessment in A&E is... which does not show the trend that the PM refers to."
And it added: "It's plausible that the fall in the mean in April 2011 reflects an improvement in data collection, quality and reporting, rather than any genuine change in waiting times."
The analysis concluded: "The data does not show that the average time in A&E has fallen since 2008. Rather, the typical total time in A&E has risen (for admitted patients, at least), and the typical time to treatment has remained static.
"It is welcome that the rich data on the amount of time patients spend in A&E is becoming part of the wider political debate on the NHS. But in order for it to be useful and informative, it must be discussed in a way which fully respects the data."
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to return to the Commons to correct his claim, which was made during a stormy clash in which Mr Cameron accused Labour leader Ed Miliband of getting his statistics on jobs wrong.
Mr Burnham said: "This analysis from the House of Commons Library is devastating for the Prime Minister.
"It exposes his cynical spin on the NHS and suggests he is guilty of giving a misleading impression of what is happening.
"David Cameron needs to hold his hands up, return to Commons and correct the record. It is only by being upfront about what is really happening can a proper plan be developed."
