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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Dave Burke

Bungling Tories use photo of woman who confronted PM over NHS in 'achievements' brag

Blundering Tories have bragged about their achievements in government - using a photo of a woman who confronted Rishi Sunak about NHS pay.

The Conservative website features a photo of the PM with patient Catherine Poole, who famously told him he needed to "try harder" to resolve the bitter dispute.

The 77-year-old was filmed giving Mr Sunak a short lecture over pay for nurses before their first strike last year.

Praising the treatment she'd received, the patient said: "It's a shame you're not paying them more."

When the Prime Minister claimed the Government was trying, Ms Poole insisted: "You are not trying, you need to try harder."

Given the awkwardness of the exchange at Croydon University Hospital, most could be forgiven for thinking Tory HQ would want to forget about it altogether.

But today a photo of the conversation was spotted on the Conservative website, under the heading "our achievements for you".

To make it worse, the picture of Mr Sunak and Ms Poole ran next to a brag that the government was "boosting the NHS".

This is despite the government's failure to reach an agreement, which has seen even more health workers announcing their intention to strike. Today junior doctors became the latest to do after voting overwhelmingly in favour of walkouts.

The error was spotted by Guido Fawkes and widely shared on social media.

A Labour source said: "It's not as if the Conservatives have any actual achievements on the NHS they can point to, unless you count the longest waiting times in history."

Ms Poole called on the PM to "try harder" to resolve the pay dispute (Getty Images)

After the clip of Ms Poole's comment was broadcast in October last year, Helga Pile of Unison said: "Patients like Catherine know NHS staff deserve better than they're getting from the Government."

Rachel Harrison, national secretary for the GMB union, which represents NHS staff from paramedics to porters, added: “No matter how much he pretends he isn’t, this Prime Minister is part of the same Tory administration that has crushed our health service.

"It’s no wonder patients want to give him a piece of their mind. Twelve years of Conservative cuts have seen our NHS completely ravaged.”

Asked to comment on the website blunder, a Tory party spokesman said: "The Prime Minister is delivering on the people’s priorities while Sir Keir Starmer is flapping around trying to pretend he didn’t support the disgraced Jeremy Corbyn and dodging simple questions such as 'what is a woman?'"

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