Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to a report from the King’s Fund on low staff morale in the NHS and deteriorating performance, said:

“This report paints a worrying picture of a demoralised NHS which is getting worse by the week. Patients deserve better from their Prime Minister. Hospital A&Es in England have now missed this Government’s own lowered A&E target for 65 weeks in a row. The NHS in England is getting worse on David Cameron’s watch.

“It is no wonder that staff morale is so low when nurses and midwives have been refused a modest one per cent pay increase but the bill for agency staff is going through the roof and managers are allowed to walk away with six-figure pay-offs.

"Labour will rescue the NHS with our £2.5 billion Time to Care package which will fund new staff including 20,000 more nurses – investment the Tories will not match.”

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