MPs write to Wes Streeting asking for an action plan for 14 hospitals in crisis

MPs have written to Wes Streeting, the health minister, asking for his action plan to help the 14 hospitals reporting critical incidents under winter pressure.

The health and social care committee wrote to Streeting on Friday asking him to indicate “what specific immediate additional support, including financial support” would be provided to trusts reporting critical incidents.

It also asked whether the trusts would receive support after the crisis period ended, during which they had diverted other staff and services from electives to acute facilities.

The committee, led by Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, said it wanted an urgent update on the state of support for hospitals, 14 of which are currently in critical status due to ‘exceptionally high’ demand in A&E assistance and the admission of patients to wards. This year’s winter crisis also appears to have been caused by flu cases RSV and Covid.

Moran said: “It is deeply concerning to hear about the pressure emergency departments across the country are under and the fact that NHS trusts are having to report critical incidents due to the large number of people attending with winter illnesses and the peak 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 in dealing with the exceptionally high demand they are facing.”

The autumn budget earmarked an extra £25.7 billion for this year, which would then be spent on the NHS – the biggest increase since 2010, excluding Covid. It included funding to reduce waiting times by supporting the NHS to deliver an additional 40,000 appointments per week, with £1.5 billion to fund new surgical centres.

However, the additional funding has so far failed to resolve the annual winter crisis that has led to 14 hospitals declaring crisis status this year. Figures this week show that 71% of people have waited less than four hours in A&E, compared to the target of 95%.

Sarah Arnold, senior policy lead at the King’s Fund, said: “With depressing predictability, healthcare services are in the depths of the annual NHS winter crisis. There are already reports of patients waiting more than two days to be seen in A&E and long delays in ambulance transfers, and critical incidents have been reported in hospitals across the country. The result is that patients are cared for in inappropriate conditions, such as trolley beds in hospital corridors.

“Extreme pressure on emergency departments is the benchmark for a healthcare system under great pressure. Throughout the year, NHS services operate worryingly close to full capacity, and peaks in demand for care during cold weather, flu or other seasonal pressures can be catastrophic.”