Watford’s parliamentary candidate for Labour has said the number of people waiting longer for urgent cancer treatment has tripled under the Tories.

Chris Ostrowski was speaking as Labour promised real terms funding of £26 billion for the NHS as part of a‘rescue plan’.

He said the impact of cuts to the NHS was visible with 3,396 patients languishing on West Hertfordshire Hospital's waiting lists.

But Dean Russell, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Watford, said cancer is a “priority” for the Government and that survival rates are at a “record high”.

However, Mr Ostrowski said: “For so many of those patients who’s had to wait, there have been weeks of excruciating pain, or humiliating discomfort, or family members taking unpaid leave to care for their loved one.

“You can’t trust Boris Johnson with our NHS. But the next Labour government will give our health service the investment it needs for the future.”

He also claimed the Tories were putting out “fake news” about the NHS and that Labour is “getting about the serious job” of saving the NHS from “a decade of cuts”.

However, Mr Russell said: “Since 2010 rates of survival have increased year-on-year thanks to record levels of investment in research and early diagnosis; there needs to be a focus on prevention as well as cure.

“Just a few weeks ago the Prime Minister was in Watford following the announcement that West Hertfordshire hospitals will receive £400m of investment allowing for a new cancer centre at St Albans City Hospital.”

Mr Ostrowski also claimed his party would “save” the NHS from the “threat of privatization by the Tories or the Lib Dems”.

But Mr Russell said the NHS was a “national treasure” and “any suggestion of privatising our countries proudest achievement is nothing more than a desperate attempt for opposition leaders to try and undermine our Prime Minister”.

Ian Stotesbury, Watford parliamentary candidate for the Lib Dems, added: “The NHS needs money and staff desperately. The Liberal Democrats are the only party being honest about how to fund more investment in our NHS.

“We will put 1p on each level of income tax to raise billions for the NHS. The NHS is treasured and needs to be protected in.”

Labour claim its pledge to invest £26 billion of real terms healthcare will provide a funding boost to provide safe quality care, recruit the thousands of staff needed and rebuild crumbling facilities and provide modern state of the art equipment.

The funding is over £6 billion in real terms more than the funding announced by the Tories last year.