Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, commenting on reports that local Healthwatch budgets are £10m less than the Government promised, said:

“You can’t trust David Cameron with the NHS. He pledged to give patients and the public a stronger voice in the NHS, but the figures released today show he has failed to live up to this promise.

“Local Healthwatch organisations were late off the starting blocks in many areas, and we now find they have not been given the resources they were promised to effectively champion the public’s voice in the NHS and social care.

“The Government has been so focused on trying to make its backroom reorganisation work, it has neglected the voice of patients at precisely the time it needs to be heard, because of the pressures on services and changes being imposed on the system.”

ENDS