All parties must take NHS winter pressures seriously
26 September 2017
- The Labour Party calls for winter bailout fund of £500m for NHS trusts
- It calls for funding to be focused on increasing capacity and securing staff needed for winter
- We say it is getting very late in the day to put in place the extra resources that will be needed.
The Labour Party has called on the government to bring forward a winter bailout fund of £500m.
It is calling for funding to be focused on:
- Increasing capacity in hospitals
- Allowing hospitals to secure the staff they need without relying on agency staff
- Delivering effective arrangements between NHS and social care to help reduce delayed transfers of care
Responding to Labour’s call for a £500 million winter bailout, the chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson, said:
“We hope all parties recognise the importance of taking seriously the added pressures on the NHS in winter.
“Over many months we have warned consistently of the urgent need to fund extra staff and beds in order to deal with the challenging months ahead.
Unfortunately though, it is getting very late in the day to put in place the extra resources that will be needed.
“Unfortunately though, it is getting very late in the day to put in place the extra resources that will be needed.
“It is positive that planning for winter is considerably more developed than last year and that emergency care performance has been given greater priority.
“Underlying all this is the fundamental question of the level of funding needed to deliver the right quality of care to a growing and ageing population. All extra investment in the NHS and social care is welcome.
“But we know that the plans in all the main party manifestos fell well short of the extra funding the independent Office of Budget Responsibility estimated was needed.”