CAMPAIGNERS marked the 76th anniversary of the NHS today by calling on Labour to take immediate action to save the crisis-hit service.

Though the party’s landslide general election victory put an end to Tory rule, which saw 14 years of destructive cuts to the NHS, outgoing prime minister Rishi Sunak departed Downing Street with a deadly legacy: 7.57 million people still on waiting lists and 14,000 needless deaths in A&E last year.

New Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who in April announced plans to “reform” the NHS and rely on the private sector to cut treatment backlogs, barely managed to retain his seat, winning by a margin of just 508 votes.