Heidi Alexander MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, commenting on the Nuffield Trust’s warning about winter pressures in the NHS, said:

“This research should act as a warning signal to Tory Ministers about how difficult this winter is going to be for the NHS.

"Hospitals right across the country are facing unprecedented levels of demand, with more and more older people arriving at A&E looking for treatment.

"The uncomfortable truth for Ministers is that this is a crisis of their own making. They’ve cut social care budgets, meaning hospitals have become dangerously full because older people are unable to get the care they need in the community.

"To make matters worse, the NHS has been given less than half the amount of money this year to deal with winter pressures than it had last year.

"Ministers should stop hiding away from this situation. They need to come out and tell patients what they intend to do to support the NHS this winter and reverse the damage they’ve done”.