Labour promises to pull NHS back from the brink if elected

The Labour Party has pledged a relentless focus on the NHS in its first 100 days in government, after research revealed hundreds of ‘extreme’ risks to patient and staff safety in hospitals across England.

Analysis of more than 120 NHS trust board papers showed that NHS Trusts are faced with hundreds of risks to patient safety classed as ‘catastrophic’ or ‘extreme’, with the majority linked to lack of spending, staffing shortages or the failures of privatisation.

If elected on 12 December, Labour says it would immediately undertake a full audit of the risks revealed by the research and prioritise capital spending – which Labour has already allocated in its manifesto spending – to ensure people and buildings are made safe.

There were 15,844 patient incidents directly related to estates and facilities services last year, and 4,810 clinical incidents caused by estate and infrastructure failure. Additionally, there were also 1,541 fires recorded by NHS trusts, and 34 people were injured as a result of fires across the same period.

The Chief Inspector of Hospitals at the Care Quality Commission warned that the NHS had made little progress in improving patient safety over the past 20 years, and NHS Providers published research showing that eight out of 10 trust leaders felt that reduced investment in NHS facilities was compromising patient safety.

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said: “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. We pledge that within the first 100 days of a Labour government we will get on top of this to ensure the extra funding we’ve promised is prioritised to keep patients and staff safe.

“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.”

Labour has listed risks linked to capital and funding, NHS privatisation and staffing issues on its website.