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Theresa May denies 'humanitarian crisis' in Britain's NHS Theresa May denies 'humanitarian crisis' in Britain's NHS
(35 minutes later)
Theresa May has rejected claims by the British Red Cross of a “humanitarian crisis” in the health system but acknowledged there were “huge pressures” on the NHS. Theresa May has rejected claims by the British Red Cross that the NHS is facing a “humanitarian disaster” as hospitals and ambulance services struggle to keep up with rising demand.
“I don’t accept the description the Red Cross has made of this,” the prime minister said. Two patients died after long waits on trolleys in hospital corridors over the new year and the charity said it was responding to a crisis in the health system.
“Yes, there are huge pressures on the NHS, but first of all we should thank all the dedicated professionals in the NHS who have been working so hard over what is always a difficult period in terms of the number of people using the NHS – the Christmas and New Year period.” Labour and Lib Dem politicians have called for May to announce an emergency rescue plan amid a chorus of warnings that hospitals and GP services across England have reached breaking point.
She told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: “Yes, there are significant pressures, but we recognise those pressures. We asked the NHS a while back to set out what it needed over the next five years in terms of its plan for the future and the funding that it would need. They did that, we gave them that funding, in fact we gave them more funding than they required. But in an interview on Sky News on Sunday, May denied there was a humanitarian disaster in the NHS and refused to confirm whether she or the health secretary would appear in parliament this week to answer MPs’ questions.
“So funding is now at record levels for the NHS, more money has been going in.” “I don’t accept the description that the Red Cross has made on this. Yes there are pressures on the NHS ... we recognise those pressures,” May said.
May added: “There are pressures in the NHS, we see those pressures. We have an ageing population, this brings pressures, particularly in the interface between the health service and social care. She said an ageing population meant the NHS was facing big challenges but that it had received “record funding” over recent years.
“We have taken some immediate steps in relation to that issue but we are also looking to ensure best practice in the NHS and looking for a long-term solution to what has been a problem that has been ducked by government over the years. “There are pressures in the NHS, we see those pressures. We have an ageing population, this brings pressures, particularly in the interface between the health service and social care.
“The NHS is facing the pressures of the ageing population, that is why it is important that it is the NHS that has produced its five-year plan and is now putting that plan into practice.” “We have taken some immediate steps in relation to that issue but we are also looking to ensure best practice in the NHS and looking for a long-term solution to what has been a problem that has been ducked by government over the years.”
Labour has called for May or the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to make an emergency statement on the NHS when parliament returns on Monday. The British Red Cross issued its warning earlier this week while the British Medical Association (BMA) said the government should be “ashamed” of the situation.
The charity’s chief executive, Mike Adamson, said extra cash was needed for health and social care to make the system sustainable.
“The British Red Cross is on the frontline, responding to the humanitarian crisis in our hospital and ambulance services across the country,” he said.
“We have been called in to support the NHS and help get people home from hospital and free up much-needed beds.”
But Keith Willett, the director of acute care for NHS England, said: “On the international scale of a humanitarian crisis, I do not think the NHS is at that point.”