“These stark figures show the huge scale of the task that London’s NHS faces in the coming years, with the threat posed by COVID-19 still very urgent.
“This is not a reflection on our brilliant and dedicated NHS workforce who have worked beyond their limits throughout the pandemic.
“As the NAO report highlights, this was a significant issue even before the COVID-19 outbreak struck, with our NHS severely weakened and put on the back foot by years of Government austerity and inertia.
“One of the major problems we face is the huge gaps we are seeing in our NHS workforce. Just last week, new figures revealed that permanent nursing vacancies in London are rising again and edging towards 10,000.
“The Government must now take urgent steps to address the underlying issues behind this and bring forward the publication of its ‘Elective Care Recovery Plan’ to clearly set out how it will invest in tackling this alarming care backlog”.
ENDS