Hundreds of “extreme” safety risks in NHS, Labour analysis reveals

NHS patients and staff are faced with hundreds of “extreme” safety risks in hospitals across the country, new analysis from Labour has revealed as the party pledges to “pull NHS back from the brink” in its first 100 days of government.

The party has reviewed official documents from more than 120 non-specialist acute NHS trusts in December, including risk registers and board assurance frameworks, in an effort to measure the current impact of austerity.

Labour has vowed to undertake a full audit of the risks revealed by the fresh research, and to prioritise capital spending within the first 100 days of being elected to ensure the safety of workers and NHS patients.

Labour’s health spokesperson Jonathan Ashworth commented: “These shocking reports reveal an NHS in crisis and on the brink. It is one thing for clinicians and managers to say what needs fixing, but we need a Labour government that will crack on and do it.”

Jeremy Corbyn’s party has concluded that the research is proof of major risks being linked to NHS underfunding, often due to maintenance issues, staffing shortages and privatisation.

Ashworth added: “The choice at this election is clear: five more years of the Tories running our health service into the ground – with more patients waiting longer for cancer treatment and operations, and more young people denied mental health care – or a Labour government on the side of patients and staff, with a rescue plan for our NHS.”

The Labour manifesto has committed the party to reversing NHS privatisation in the next parliament and repealing the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, which brought in the ‘Lansley reforms’ that came under heavy criticism from unions of healthcare professionals and other experts.

The party has pledged £15bn NHS capital investment and has said it will publish an infrastructure plan that would see NHS England return to the international average level of capital investment.

Labour’s plan for staffing in the NHS includes the reintroduction of bursaries for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, as well as removing barriers to ethical international recruitment.

Last year, there were 15,844 patient incidents related to estates and facilities services and 4,810 clinical incidents caused by estate and infrastructure failure. There were 1,541 fires recorded by NHS Trusts, with 34 people injured as a result.

Labour says the cost to eliminate the current backlog of maintenance repairs in the NHS is now £6.5bn, and that £1.5bn of this consists of high-risk maintenance and repairs.

The government has received warnings this year from NHS leaders and GPs about the impact of winter pressures, understaffing and the lack of investment on patient safety.

When confronted on Monday morning over the treatment of a four-year-old with suspected pneumonia who was forced to sleep on the floor in a hospital room due to a lack of beds, Boris Johnson refused to look at the photo and pocketed a journalist’s mobile phone.

The Prime Minister’s reaction led to him being branded a “disgrace” by Labour figures, and the ITV video received millions of views within hours of being tweeted by political correspondent Joe Pike.