Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the Government’s announcement on funding for struggling A&E departments this winter, said:

“We’ve been telling David Cameron for more than two years to get a grip on the crisis he created in A&E. Throwing money at it when winter’s about to start is not good enough.

“This won’t make up for the fact that £3 billion was wasted on a top-down reorganisation while patient care deteriorated. Labour will rescue the NHS with an extra £2.5 billion a year to fund 20,000 more nurses – investment the Tories will not match.

“England’s A&Es are getting worse, not better, and this panic move is too little to stop the NHS facing a difficult winter. It is further evidence that David Cameron can’t be trusted with it.”

Ends