MPs write to Wes Streeting asking for action plan on 14 hospitals in crisis
Share:
Committee says it wants urgent update on state of support for hospitals declaring critical incidents under winter pressure. MPs have written to Wes Streeting, the health secretary, asking for his action plan to help the 14 hospitals declaring critical incidents under winter pressure.
The health and social care committee wrote to Streeting on Friday asking him to spell out “what specific immediate additional support, including financial support” would be provided to trusts declaring critical incidents. It also asked if the trusts would be given support after the crisis period had passed where they had diverted other staff and services from elective to acute provision.
The committee, led by the Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, said it wanted an urgent update on the state of support for the hospitals, with 14 currently in a critical status due to “exceptionally high” demand on A&E and patients being admitted to wards. The winter crisis this year appears to have been driven by flu cases, as well as RSV and Covid.
Moran said: “It is very worrying to hear of the strain that A&E departments across the country are under and of NHS trusts having to declare critical incidents because of the high number of people attending with winter illnesses and the spike in flu cases.
“As a committee, we have written to the health secretary today to ask what the department is doing to support health services to cope with the exceptionally high demand they are facing.”. The autumn budget allocated an extra £25.7bn over this year and next to be spent on the NHS – the biggest uplift since 2010, excluding Covid. It included funding to reduce waiting times by supporting the NHS to deliver an extra 40,000 appointments a week, with £1.5bn to fund new surgical hubs.
