Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, on today’s A&E figures, said:

“These figures are the most worrying of the winter so far and call the Government’s complacency on A&E into serious question. Even though there was a big fall in people attending A&E, the number of hospitals missing the Government’s target still went up. Most worryingly, the number of patients waiting on trolleys for up to twelve hours doubled, reaching the highest level in months. If hospitals are not coping in a quieter week, then it spells real trouble ahead for the NHS and suggests something is seriously amiss across the wider health and care system.

“The truth is that the NHS has been thrown off course by David Cameron’s re-organisation and is still reeling from it. Signs of growing pressure in A&E were missed as ministers obsessed on back-office restructuring. The top A&E doctor in the land, who raised recruitment concerns three years ago, has said his warnings were ignored.

“David Cameron’s fingerprints are all over this crisis. He wasted billions on an unnecessary re-organisation, inflicted deep cuts on social care and made it harder to see a GP - all the ingredients for the current pressures in A&E. People can see that the NHS is not safe in his hands.”