Heidi Alexander MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, commenting on NHS England’s latest combined performance summary for September 2015, said:

“These figures show that the NHS is facing breaking point before winter has even started. It is a stark illustration of just how far the NHS has declined under the Tories.

“Unless there is an urgent and significant injection of money into the NHS, then standards of care will be compromised this winter.

“The uncomfortable truth for Ministers is that this is a crisis of their own making. The NHS is under pressure as a direct result of decisions they have made. They cut older people’s care in the home, meaning hospitals have become dangerously full, and cuts to nurse training places have forced hospitals to drain resources hiring expensive agency staff.

“However Ministers try to present it, these figures show that Tory NHS policies are failing patients.”

On delayed discharges reaching a new record high, Heidi Alexander said:

“The neglect of older people’s care by this Government is a scandal that has gone on for far too long.

“The cuts to social care are not only bad for older people who rely on support to keep their dignity and independence, but bad for the NHS too. It is one of the key reasons why hospitals are under so much pressure.

“Ministers need to stop burying their heads in the sand. George Osborne must use the Spending Review to invest in older people’s care, and repair the damage this Government has done.”