Labour is to focus its pre-election campaigning over the summer on the NHS after Ed Miliband accused David Cameron of presiding over a deterioration in treatment after the reorganisation of the Health Service by Andrew Lansley.
The Labour leader said the prime minister was to blame for the deterioration in services after a series of targets were missed.
Miliband said: “You promised the reorganisation in the NHS would make things better, it’s made things worse. Worse on access to cancer treatment, worse on AE waits, worse on GP access, the NHS is getting worse on your watch. And there’s only one person to blame and it’s you.”
The Labour leader attacked the prime minister as they clashed at prime minister’s questions over a series of statistics on the NHS.
Miliband opened by asking the prime minister whether the number of people having to wait more than the guaranteed two months for cancer treatment has gone up or down since 2010.
The prime minister replied by answering a different question as he said the number of people treated for cancer has increased by 15% and the coalition is meeting the “key waiting time target, particularly the waiting time target for accident and emergency”.
Miliband said the government has missed the cancer target for the first time as he cited Macmillan Cancer Support, which has warned that more lives are being put at risk, and Cancer Research UK, which has said: “This isn’t just a missed target, some patients are being failed.”
Cameron again replied by answering a different question as he said the government has introduced a cancer drug fund which is treating 50,000 people.  
The Labour MP Jack Dromey asked what Cameron would say to a constituent who has been waiting 33 weeks for a hip operation. The prime minister said: “I say he needs to look at the figures. The figures show that the numbers of people waiting longer than 18 weeks, 26 weeks and 52 weeks to start treatment ... are lower than at any time.”
However, his answer prompted an intervention on a point of order from the shadow health secretary, Andy Burnham: “The prime minister appeared to suggest that the number of people who waited longer than 18 weeks for an operation had gone down since his reorganisation. I have the figures here April 2010, 20,662 waited longer than 18 weeks. April 2014, 29,417. The number has gone up. Before the prime minister leaves the chamber don’t you think he might correct the record, Mr Speaker?”
Cameron said: “I can tell the house the numbers waiting longer than 18, 26 and 52 weeks to start treatment is lower than at any time under the last government. Those are the facts. On Tuesday (Labour) were caught out with dodgy statistics, I think they have just done it again.”