Chris Leslie MP, Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said:

“The government is acting belatedly to deal with a problem of its own making.

"Over 4,000 people have been made redundant and rehired in the NHS on David Cameron’s watch. Under this government £1.4bn of taxpayers’ money has been spent on redundancies in the NHS alone.

"While billions have been wasted on a reckless reorganisation of the NHS, waiting times have gone up and it’s got harder to see a GP.”