Jamie Reed MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, responding to the Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation report on causes of the A&E crisis and a warning of ‘inevitable’ longer waits in future, said:
“This report is proof that David Cameron’s fingerprints are all over the crisis in A&E departments. Patients will be worried to hear things are set to get even worse.
"It is right to warn that older patients are forced to turn to A&E because they simply can no longer get a GP appointment. David Cameron made it harder to see your GP and this scandal is why the next Labour Government will guarantee appointments within 48 hours or on the same day for those who need them.
"This report is another reminder for David Cameron that his decimation of England’s social care system is leaving older patients trapped in hospital without the support to go home - A&E departments are struggling to cope.
"The Government must tackle plummeting satisfaction with GPs and the collapse of social care on its watch. It is more proof you can’t trust the Tories with the NHS.”
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