Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to reports in the Health Service Journal of a letter sent by the regulator to hospitals on the financial state of the NHS leading to staff not being replaced, said:
“This is a sign of a serious deterioration in NHS finances. It suggests that the financial crisis in the NHS is threatening to spiral out of control and hit standards of patient care.
"The suggestion that hospitals can water-down safe staffing guidance will alarm patients and the Government must decide if it will overrule this advice.
"Morale in the NHS is already at an all time low and doctors have lost confidence in the Health Secretary.
"It will raise further questions about how the Government can possibly fulfill commitments on a seven-day NHS without the money to back it up.”
Notes to Editors: