The Department of Health Data said that there were longer waiting times for people who were referred for treatment. It was seen that in May 2010, 20,662 patients had to wait more than the time that is recommended.
There was an increase of 42.8 per cent seen in November 2011 as the figure went to 29,508, making an increase of 8,846.
A goal of about 90 per cent of inpatients being seen within 18 weeks of a GP referring them was not met by a third of hospital trusts across England making them about 47.
The performance target that was based on the 18-week wait measure was scraped by Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, and this was one of the first decisions taken by Lansley. He even stated that patients were being discharged sooner than they should have in an attempt to free-up beds.
For the recent disapproval of the health bill by major unions that was faced by Lansley, Andy Burnham was busy taking up figures as evidence that when it comes to the NHS, the government should not be trusted.
Mr Burnham said, “This is exactly what we warned would happen when they relaxed Labour's waiting times targets. Labour left waiting times at an historic low, but the Government has thrown all this away.”