Labour and senior medics are turning up the heat on the embattled Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt - on A&E waiting times, NHS staff shortages and social care funding.
In the Commons, Labour will stage an all-day debate on a motion demanding a rescue plan for the NHS, including a commitment to a four-hour waiting time target in A&E.
And in a blistering letter to Theresa May, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) - representing 33,000 doctors - claims lives are being put at risk by the crisis in the NHS and social care.
The RCP says the NHS is "underfunded, under doctored and overstretched".
The twin onslaught comes as figures show three times as many patients (18,435) waited more than 12 hours on a trolley for a hospital bed last week because of a lack of beds as in the whole of January 2016.
The NHS Digital figures also showed the number of people over 70 waiting more than 12 hours in A&E had nearly trebled in two years adding to the pressure on the Government for a cash boost for social care.
An National Audit Office report reveals a serious shortage of GPs caused by shortfalls in training places, increased part-time working and early retirement.
The NAO's findings have prompted the British Medical Association to claim the Government's plans to extend patients' access to GP services are in "complete disarray".
On Tuesday, Mr Hunt repeatedly refused to answer questions from Sky's Beth Rigby after appearing to abandon the commitment to treat A&E patients within four hours.
Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth has written to Mr Hunt demanding assurances on the four-hour A&E target.
He said: "Our NHS is in crisis, with some patients having to wait for hours in overcrowded A&E departments or on trolleys in hospital corridors."
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Royal College of Physicians writes: "Our NHS is underfunded, under doctored and overstretched. The ambulances queuing outside emergency departments are a visual testament to the crisis in social care and the NHS.
"Our hospitals are over-full, with too few qualified staff, and our primary, community, social care and public health services are struggling or failing to cope.
"Patients are waiting longer on lists, on trolleys, in emergency departments and in their homes for the care they need."
The doctors said pressures in social care mean more people are being pushed into hospitals and they are trapped there for longer.
A Department of Health spokesperson told Sky News: "We know the NHS is facing increasing demand from an ageing population but this makes building a safer healthcare system more urgent, not less."
The Government has continued to insist the pressures on the NHS happen every winter.
Asked if ministers are considering an emergency cash injection for hospitals, the Prime Minister's spokeswoman said the Government was delivering on what the NHS had requested in its five-year plan.
"It is not unusual to see particular pressures on the NHS during a winter period," she said.
"Because of the action that the Government has been taking, we approached this winter period with over 1,600 more doctors and 3,000 more nurses than just a year ago."
But the National Audit Office says there may be 1,900 fewer GPs by 2020 than the 5,000 extra doctors planned to meet a Conservative election promise for weekend and evening access to GPs.
No comments:
Post a Comment