Justin Madders MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, commenting on ITV News’ interview with Jeremy Hunt, in which he refused to apologise to NHS staff and instead said “when they (staff) signed up to go into medicine they knew there would be pressurised moments”, said:

“This startling admission shows how entirely out of touch with the reality of the NHS winter crisis Jeremy Hunt is.

“It follows the Prime Minister’s bizarre comment last month that cancelled operations were ‘part of the plan’ for the NHS and that ‘nothing is perfect’.

“The truth is that our hardworking NHS staff provide the best possible care in the face of unprecedented pressures and are all that stand between the current crisis and total collapse. Almost eight years of sustained underfunding of our health and care services have resulted in the worst winter crisis on record, with almost 140,000 patients stuck in the back of ambulances for over 30 minutes. Saying these are ‘pressured moments’ totally underestimates the scale of the problem.

“When will Ministers get a grip and sort out this escalating crisis on their watch instead of making feeble and insulting excuses?”