Heidi Alexander MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, commenting on the National Audit Office’s report into the sustainability and financial performance of acute hospital trusts, said:

“This report shows just how bad the NHS’s financial performance has become. Hospital deficits are spiralling out of control and the financial crisis facing the NHS is so big astronaut Tim Peake can probably see it from space.

“This year hospitals are facing a £2.2 billion deficit and the extra money announced at the Spending Review is simply going to get sucked into the black hole that has emerged in hospitals finances under the Tories.

“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. Cuts to nurse training places have forced hospitals to drain resources hiring expensive agency staff, while cuts to social care services has led to rising demand on hospitals.

“The NAO’s report raises serious concerns about whether the actions being taken by Ministers are going to be enough to fix the damage they’ve done. However Ministers try to spin this, these figures show that Tory NHS polices are failing hospitals and failing patients.”