David Cameron announces an extra £500m for A&E which critics say is "sticking plaster" to cover the cracks he has created in the NHS

A&E departments will receive an additional £500 million over the next two years to ensure they are fully prepared for winter, Prime Minister David Cameron announced today. With over one million more people visiting A&E compared to three years ago, last year's harsh winter put exceptional pressure on urgent and emergency wards. The new funding will go to A&E departments identified as being under the most pressure and be targeted at 'pinch points' in local services.

Hospitals have put forward proposals aimed at improving how its service works. These include improvements to both the A&E itself and improvements to other services away from the A&E so there are less unnecessary visits or longer stays in urgent and emergency wards. The aim will be for patients to be treated promptly, with fewer delays in A&E, and for other patients to get the care, prescriptions or advice they need without going to the A&E. Some of the local initiatives could include:

• Minimising A&E attendances and hospital admissions from care homes by appointing hospital specialists in charge of joining up services for the elderly.
• Seven day social work; increased hours at walk-in centres; increased intermediate care beds and extension to Pharmacy services to ease pressures on A&Es.
• Consultant reviews of all ambulance arrivals in A&E so that a senior level decision is taken on what care is needed at the earliest opportunity.

Currently, A&E departments are performing at their usual level for the summer period with over 95% of patients seen within four hours since the end of April. It is hoped that providing the additional funding at this stage will ensure the NHS is better prepared for the busier winter period.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "With over a million more people visiting A&E in the last three years, services and staff can find themselves under pressure during the busier winter period. While A&E departments are performing well this summer and at a level we would expect for this time of year, I want the NHS to take action now to prepare for the coming winter. The additional funding will go to hospitals where the pressure will be greatest, with a focus on practical measures that relieve pinch points in local services. By acting now, we can ensure doctors, nurse and NHS staff have the support they need and patients are not left facing excessive waits for treatment. "

Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said: "This £500 million will help A&E departments to prepare for winter and give patients confidence that they can quickly access safe and reliable emergency care. We will do whatever it takes to make sure the best A&E care is there for every patient when they need it, and we're backing our hard-working NHS staff with the resources they need to deliver this."

Responding to the news Labour's Shadow Health Minister Jamie Reed said: "Today's announcement fails to mention the issue patients really care about - nurses on hospital wards. Hospitals are running without enough staff, yet thousands of nursing jobs have been axed on David Cameron's watch. It's time he got a grip. David Cameron's A&E crisis is a symptom of wider problems in the NHS and care system, which this announcement will not address. He's spent the last three years taking £3 billion from patient care to spend on a pointless re-organisation of the NHS. At the same time, £1.8bn has been cut from council budgets for older people's care. This is now backing up through England's A&E departments. This is further proof you can't trust David Cameron with the NHS."

Reacting to the announcement of a £500m "bailout" for "struggling A&E departments", the co-leader of the NHAP, Dr Clive Peedell said: "The Government's announcement of £500 million to prop up A+E services is no more than a sticking plaster over the massive cracks in the NHS that they have created by their disastrous reforms and spending cuts. This figure of £500 million over 2 years needs to be put into context. The Treasury has already clawed back £3 billion from the NHS budget in the last two financial years. There is also the backdrop of the £20 billion efficiency savings program by 2015. So in reality this money goes nowhere near to making up the massive Government cuts to the NHS budget, which is putting huge pressure on the entire health system".

Continuing Dr Peedell said: "Worse still, the Government has known about the risks of a crisis in emergency care since 2010, when the NHS risk register was first published. Andrew Lansley used a Cabinet veto to prevent its publication despite the Information Commissioner and a tribunal ruling asking him to release it. A leaked version highlighted the risks to emergency care, so we now know why Lansley wanted to cover it up. The current crisis clearly warrants the release of the full NHS risk register with immediate effect. It is obvious that NHS staff need to know the full extent of the risks facing the NHS in order to deal with the problems."

Concluding Dr Peedell said: "The Government's desperate short term approach will not solve one of the key problems leading to the A+E crisis, which is a shortage of A+E consultants, trainees and experienced A+E nurses. This cannot be solved overnight by short term injections of money. It needs long term strategic planning and funding, but the Government's unwanted top down reorganisation of the NHS has made this task almost impossible. The Government should also stop closing and downgrading A+Es departments and start properly planning and funding social care and General Practice to solve the bed blocking problem."