THE NHS is “not structured or geared to getting our patients treated,” a Labour conference fringe meeting heard today. 

Phil Banfield, from the British Media Association, made the comments at the meeting on fixing the NHS.

Labour MP and ear, nose and throat surgeon Peter Prinsley noted that when he first began his career, he would operate on eight children a morning, but now this has halved to four.

“We don’t have a sufficient quantity of beds, we’re unable to process the patients quickly through theatres,” he said. 

Royal College of Nursing general secretary Nicola Ranger said that up to a third of patients in many hospitals should be in another setting.

Paulette Hamilton, MP for Erdington and a former nurse, noted the need to provide more training opportunities to help tackle NHS waiting lists.

She said: “Why are we not training or giving people the opportunity to train in some of these different health professions?”