Miliband unveils 5-point plan to deal with A&E crisis

Ed Miliband has laid out how Labour would solve the A&E crisis.

In an interview with the Daily Mirror, he has explained the five-point plan  (outlined below) that would aim to get departments across the country in much better shape than they are currently.

This comes after the British Red Cross was called in to help relieve pressures on hospitals that are struggling to cope and after figures showed A&E waiting time targets were missed by the biggest margin in 10 years.

The plan reads as follows:

1. Make it easier for families to see their GP. They would do this by getting GP practices to share spare appointment slots, encouraging local areas to put GPs in major A&Es to treat non-emergency patients and w restoring the guarantee of an appointment in 48 hours.

2. Get nurses to answer 111 calls. The NHS 111 helpline relies too much on those who’ve only had a few weeks of training . Labour would get more clinically-trained staff to answer these call, so they can give better medical advice and reduce the number of people told to go to A&E.

3. Put a stop to the closure of walk-in centres. The Tories have closed almost 25% of the 230 walk-in centres Labour set up. Labour would put a stop to this.

4. Deal with failing social care system. Due to the cuts, 300,000 fewer elderly people get care than before the Coalition came into power, while many who do get care are limited to 15 minute slots. This leads in more elderly people being sent to A&E.  Labour would ask councils, the NHS and voluntary sector organisations to identify elderly people at high risk to find them the relevant support.

5. Recruit former nurses back into practice. Wards are understaffed – Labour would encourage nurses to return to the professor and reverse the cuts in nurse training implemented by the Coalition.

Miliband outlined why this plan was so importanct:

“Clearing up this mess will require the long term investment only Labour is prepared to make – 8,000 extra GPs, 5,000 more homecare workers, 3,000 more midwives and 20,000 additional nurses.

“But the scale of the current crisis also demands immediate action.

“If I was Prime Minister we would be taking action now to ease pressure on A & E by helping families see a GP, getting more nurses answering calls to NHS 111, halting the closures of walk-in centres, tackling the scandal of social care, and recruiting former nurses back into the NHS to help deal with staffing pressures.”

“The Tories want to blame the patients – but the NHS is in crisis because of decisions made by David Cameron. His Government has made it harder for families to see a GP while cuts in social care have left vulnerable and elderly people at risk.”