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Patients' charity attacks ministers over NHS winter crisis Jeremy Hunt defends decision to postpone non-urgent NHS surgery
(about 1 hour later)
Ministers must be accountable for the worsening situation in hospitals as a winter crisis strikes the NHS across England, an influential patient charity has said. The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has defended plans to postpone non-urgent surgery until the end of the month, amid growing criticism of the government’s response to the NHS winter crisis.
The Patients Association attacked the government for the pressure the health service is under. John Kell, the charity’s head of policy, said politicians’ decisions had left the NHS in its current situation. Hunt said the decision was made to allow “a planned, methodical, thoughtful” approach. He also apologised to patients who had faced upheaval, saying: “It’s absolutely not what I want.”
His criticism came as Theresa May praised NHS workers for doing a “fantastic job” under pressure and insisted that the service had been better prepared for winter than ever before. Speaking to Sky News, he said: “What is different this year compared to last year is that last year we had a lot of operations cancelled at the last minute. A lot of people were called up the day before their operation and told: ‘I’m sorry, it can’t go ahead.’
“And we recognise that it is better, if you are unfortunately going to have to cancel or postpone some operations, to do it in a planned way … Although if you are someone whose operation has been delayed I don’t belittle that for one moment and indeed I apologise to everyone who that has happened to.”
He thanked NHS staff for their “heroic” job, saying they were working “beyond the call of duty”.
Hunt’s remarks come after growing criticism from charities and opposition MPs of the government’s response to the worsening situation in hospitals this winter.
Dr Anthea Mowat, the chair of the British Medical Association representative body, said: “What is happening in our A&Es is symptomatic of pressures across the entire system … Short-term fixes, however well-meaning, will only get us so far. Each winter the pressure on the NHS worsens, and politicians are not taking the long-term view needed to ensure the NHS can keep up with rising demand.”
The Patients Association attacked ministers for the pressure the health service was under. John Kell, the charity’s head of policy, said politicians’ decisions had left the NHS in its current situation.
Kell said: “Ministers must be accountable for this winter’s crisis. The policy decisions that have left the NHS in this position are taken by the government, and it is ministers who are directly accountable to parliament, and to patients when they vote at elections.”Kell said: “Ministers must be accountable for this winter’s crisis. The policy decisions that have left the NHS in this position are taken by the government, and it is ministers who are directly accountable to parliament, and to patients when they vote at elections.”
On Tuesday, pressure on English hospitals prompted the government to tell them to take unprecedented measures to try and stabilise the service. This included extending an existing ban on non-urgent surgery until the end of the month and deploying consultants in A&E units to assess whether patients really were emergency cases. His criticism came as Theresa May praised NHS workers for doing a “fantastic job” under pressure and insisted that the service had been better prepared for winter than ever before.
On Tuesday, pressure on English hospitals prompted the government to tell them to take unprecedented measures to try to stabilise the service. This included extending an existing ban on non-urgent surgery until the end of the month and deploying consultants in A&E units to assess whether patients really were emergency cases.
Kell added: “Objectively, the NHS’s performance and offer to patients are stronger now than they were 15 years ago or more, but the experiences of patients at times like this do not reflect that. Ministers must not allow the NHS to slide backwards in its 70th anniversary year to the point where its improved performance in the later 2000s seems like an isolated peak.” He said patients were losing out, with a growing number treated on trolleys in corridors.Kell added: “Objectively, the NHS’s performance and offer to patients are stronger now than they were 15 years ago or more, but the experiences of patients at times like this do not reflect that. Ministers must not allow the NHS to slide backwards in its 70th anniversary year to the point where its improved performance in the later 2000s seems like an isolated peak.” He said patients were losing out, with a growing number treated on trolleys in corridors.
There is growing pressure on the government to deal with the crisis, as hospitals struggle to cope with high patient demand. Sarah Wollaston, the former GP and Conservative MP who chairs the House of Commons health committee, said May and her cabinet colleagues needed to “get a better grip” of the problem.
Sarah Wollaston, the former GP and Conservative MP who chairs the Commons health committee, said May and her cabinet colleagues needed to “get a better grip” of the problem.
The prime minister, on a visit to homeowners who had benefited from stamp duty reforms in Berkshire, paid tribute to NHS staff and pledged operations would be rescheduled “as soon as possible”.The prime minister, on a visit to homeowners who had benefited from stamp duty reforms in Berkshire, paid tribute to NHS staff and pledged operations would be rescheduled “as soon as possible”.
She said: “Can I say a huge thank you to NHS staff for their hard work. They work hard and do a fantastic job for us day in and day out all year round, but obviously there are extra pressures in winter. She said: “Can I say a huge thank you to NHS staff for their hard work. They work hard and do a fantastic job for us, day in and day out, all year round, but obviously there are extra pressures in winter.
“They’re doing a fantastic job and their dedication is ensuring that people are getting treatment that they need.”“They’re doing a fantastic job and their dedication is ensuring that people are getting treatment that they need.”
She added: “The NHS has been better prepared for this winter than ever before, we have put extra funding in. She added: “The NHS has been better prepared for this winter than ever before. We have put extra funding in.
“There are more beds available across the system, we’ve reduced the number of delayed discharges of elderly people who would otherwise have been in NHS beds rather than in social care. “There are more beds available across the system. We have reduced the number of delayed discharges of elderly people who would otherwise have been in NHS beds rather than in social care. But I recognise for those people that have had their operations postponed this is disappointing, it’s frustrating.”
“But I recognise for those people that have had their operations postponed this is disappointing, it’s frustrating. Jonathan Ashworth MP, the shadow health secretary, said: “Yet again Theresa May reveals how entirely out of touch she is. She will next be trying to lecture patients that ‘nothing has changed’ … Instead of burying her head in the sand … [May] needs to explain why she has allowed underfunding and cuts to health and social care to continue. As Tory MP Sarah Wollaston said this morning, the government needs to get a grip.”
“We will ensure that those operations are put back as soon as possible and once again I say that NHS staff are doing a fantastic job.”
The Labour MP Justin Madders, a shadow health minister, said: “Patients and staff deserve better than a health secretary doing a [Chris] Grayling, going to ground and refusing to explain the appalling downturn in standards of care this winter. Instead of running scared, Jeremy Hunt must answer for his party’s sustained underfunding of our NHS which has already caused such misery right across the country. After five years in the job he should be taking responsibility, not fleeing the scene.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Prof Keith Willett, the director for acute care for NHS England, defended the decision to defer non-urgent inpatient elective care until 31 January, saying the health service had entered the winter period “in a way that we’ve never prepared before”.
He said: “We’ve gone into this winter in a way that we’ve never prepared before, so we went into the winter before Christmas having cancelled fewer elective operations than we had previously, discharges from hospital were at a lower level than they had been previously, so we were better prepared.”