Justin Madders MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, commenting on the news that NHS officials have ordered a national review of A&E diverts amid serious safety fears, said:

“A&E departments nationwide are under relentless pressure as a result of Theresa May’s sustained underfunding of our NHS, and it is patients with urgent health needs who are paying the price.

“Simply put, it is completely unacceptable for anyone desperately needing treatment to be turned away and yet under the Tories, ambulance diverts have hit record highs.

“Patient safety must be our absolute priority and any streaming system which places patients’ lives at risk is entirely unacceptable.

“It is time Jeremy Hunt accepted our emergency care system stands on a crucial knife-edge. Without urgent and sustained investment to ease these acute strains, an unprecedented crisis this winter looks increasingly likely.”