Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the King’s Fund’s report on NHS deterioration across the board under the Tory-led Government, said:

“Five years ago, David Cameron stood on a promise to protect the NHS. This report provides authoritative proof that he has broken that promise and the NHS as we know it can’t survive five more years of the Tories. They pushed through a damaging reorganisation without the consent of the public and the NHS has gone downhill ever since. Thursday 7th May is shaping up to be David Cameron’s day of reckoning on the NHS.

“In 2010, Cameron said he would cut the deficit, not the NHS. What this report reveals, is that he is on course to create a large deficit in the NHS. It is scandalous that he spent £3 billion on a reorganisation that has left the NHS worse off. Hospitals are now trapped in a financial vicious circle with bills for agency staff running out of control and staff failing to keep pace with demand.

“What is clear is that the fragile NHS we now have can’t take five more years like the five it has just had. It can’t afford the Tories’ plan for deeper care cuts in the next Parliament. It urgently needs new leadership and a change of course. Labour has set out a better plan to restore the NHS, rebuild it as a national health and care service and invest £2.5 billion extra a year - on top of Tory spending plans - to fund 20,000 more nurses and 8,000 more GPs.” B�i���xQ