The Labour party will today put forward an A&E rescue plan as it forces a debate and vote on the issue in the Commons. Today's debate comes amid continued warnings from the NHS front-line that A&E waiting times are the highest in almost a decade. Today's report from the Foundation Trust Network further highlights the urgent need for the Government to undertake detailed planning. Six in ten of its hospital trusts expect the coming winter to be even worse than 2012-13.
Last week, Labour convened an A&E summit in Westminster to hear from experts on the causes. It found the real causes of the A&E crisis to be the collapse of social care, front-line job cuts, the disastrous 111 service and the closure of NHS Walk-In Centres. Based on these findings, Labour has drawn up an A&E rescue plan and will today call on the Government to commit to it:
1. Provide immediate support for social care by handing £1.2 billion of the NHS 'under-spend' to support the elderly at home.
2. Review NHS 111 advice line rules that see nurses handle fewer than one in five calls .
3. Ensure all hospitals have safe staffing levels - more than 4000 nursing jobs have already been lost and experts warn of understaffed A&Es.
4. Halt the closures of NHS Walk-In Centres that take pressure off A&Es.
5. Review all planned A&E closures and downgrades.
Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, said: "Labour has called this emergency debate to force the Government to act on the growing crisis in our A&Es. There are warnings today that if something doesn't change, they won't safely get through the coming winter. Jeremy Hunt has lost time and lost the argument. His complacency is one of the greatest dangers the NHS faces. He needs to come to the Commons today and produce a practical plan to relieve the pressure on A&E departments. In the absence of Government action, it is Labour that is showing the leadership the NHS desperately needs at this time. The Government has desperately tried to blame everybody else for a crisis of their own making. They are failing to get a grip on the real causes of the crisis in A&Es. Ministers' failure to plan must not see patients face even worse chaos next winter. The crisis in A&E proves that you can't trust David Cameron with the NHS."
