POLITICIANS from opposition parties criticised the government’s treatment of the NHS following another failure to meet the official wait target for patients visiting A&E.

Liberal Democrat candidates for south and north Swindon Stan Pajak and Katie Critchlow said in a joint statement: “It is shameful that patients in Swindon are being abandoned, be it waiting for hours for treatment in accident and emergency or for months in pain for routine operations.

“These figures reveal the Conservatives’ dismal record on the NHS.

“For the past four years the Tories have utterly failed to invest properly in our health service, leaving local hospitals underfunded, overstretched and understaffed.

“Their extreme Brexit would make a dismal situation worse by driving away the EU nurses the NHS desperately needs.

“The Liberal Democrats will stop Brexit and build a brighter future. We will invest an extra £35 billion in our NHS through a penny on income tax and develop a national recruitment strategy to ensure we never again suffer shortages of nurses, doctors and other health professionals.”

A spokesman for South Swindon Labour said: “Figures show Swindon’s GWH A&E department is the 10th worst in the country for patients waiting over 12 hours.”

“That’s the 10th worst out of 232.

“The Tory govt is failing the NHS in Swindon. Time for a real campaigner to take over, Sarah Church, because Swindon deserves better.”