NHS patients complain because waiting lists are too short. No, really.

For those who have been living in a cave at the bottom of the Irish Sea with earmuffs on for the last two months, Tory MEP Daniel Hannan has been touring American TV studios with a misinformation campaign about the British health system.  The lies start with NHS waiting lists:

“The most striking thing about it is that very often you are sent to the back of the queue. You turn up with an ailment and you’re told ‘okay, how about October of next year?’” – Daniel Hannan

Those not living in a timewarp – it’s 2009 no 1989 – know that this is a scaremongering bunch of crap. In fact, waiting times at the NHS Queen’s Hospital in Burton have fallen so much that some patients are saying their operations are being scheduled too quickly:

“Incredibly enough, some patients now say it’s too quick and want time to think and plan. People still believe that if they need something like a hip operation, it’s going to be months.” Figures show Queen’s saw 94.6 per cent of admitted patients within the 18-week referral to treatment time, well over the 90 per cent target.

Here it comes:

“The funding that the NHS has had over the last few years has made it possible because we’ve been able to expand our capacity and see patients more quickly.” – Paula Clark, chief executive, Queen’s Hospital, Burton

Perhaps someone should tell Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck?