Health Bill

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. It is not acceptable to try to achieve infection targets at the expense of waiting list and other targets, nor is it acceptable to try to achieve waiting list targets by compromising on patient safety and infection rates. Throughout the country there are hospitals that are both improving the number of patients whom they treat, thus getting waiting lists and waiting times down, and getting a grip on infection control, thus bringing MRSA and other infection rates down. The answer is that hospitals need to do both.