The government has been told to be more open and honest about the state of the NHS if it wants to reduce record waiting lists.
As of August, 7.75 million people were waiting for NHS treatment – the highest figure since records began in 2007.
The government has blamed ongoing strikes for rising waiting times.
However, speaking to Sky News during a special programme on the state of the health service in England, medical academic and GP Professor Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard blamed a lack of funding.
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“What we’ve had is a long-term period where the NHS was underfunded,” she said.
“The funding is now at a much better level, but we’ve got this decade of underfunding which has led to fewer staff than we needed, fewer beds than we needed, fewer premises or inadequate premises compared to what we need and those have had an accumulative effect.
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“If you haven’t got people coming through the training pipeline, if you haven’t got the equipment where you need it, you end up with the challenges we have now.
“And whilst we can’t undo the past, we have to work from where we are going forward.
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“I think being honest with the public about the state of the NHS we have now, what we want the NHS to be and what those compromises might need to be in the future.
“I think it’s a very real, important and quite sophisticated debate, but one I think the public is ready to hear and engage with.
“What they don’t want is trite lines, suggesting everything will be marvellous and simple things are going to fix it – because they are not.
“Things are complicated,” added Dame Helen, who is chair of the National Academy of Social Prescribing and ex-chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, as well as a GP partner in Lichfield.
Siva Anandaciva, who is chief analyst at the King’s Fund to Health, said on the record waiting lists: “One reason is increased demand.
“Our population is growing, our population is ageing, so there’s more demand on the health service.
“But I think the key constraint, the key reason, is supply.
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He explained that staff and equipment levels are not where they need to be to keep up with demand.
“Are there enough staff? Are there enough beds? Is there enough equipment to meet this rising demand?
“I’m afraid the answer is no. So that’s despite the prime minister’s pledge [to shorten waiting lists] waiting times have continued to increase.”
