The Health Secretary cannot leave serious questions unanswered about the process for declaring major incidents in England’s hospitals, Andy Burnham has said in a further letter to Jeremy Hunt.

Further to leaked emails and documents this morning, it became clear in a separate NHS England document that the West Midlands region considers the political and news management implications of declaring this level of alert. It was put to the Health Secretary in the Commons during an Urgent Question earlier this afternoon but he failed to answer questions or join Labour’s call for the guidance to be withdrawn.  

Earlier today, correspondence between managers and A&E consultants at one NHS hospital in the region showed frontline staff believe their “hands are tied” by the 17-point enhanced criteria to not declare a major incident.

Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said:

“Jeremy Hunt came to the Commons and failed to answer basic questions about the procedure for declaring major incident status. His statements directly contradicted official guidance from NHS England. He claimed patient safety should be the only consideration but a document specifically asks clinicians and managers to consider the political and media impact of making such a declaration.

“With the NHS remaining under severe pressure, there is no room for confusion between what the Health Secretary says in the House of Commons and the guidance to trusts. Doctors on the ground do not share Hunt’s interpretation of the current guidance. He must clear up this confusion without delay.”