Labour

This worrying survey shows that the NHS is coming under attack from every possible angle - Burnham

Andy Burnham MP, Labour's Shadow Health Secretary, commenting on the Royal College of Nursing survey of community nurses, said:

"This worrying survey shows that the NHS is coming under attack from every possible angle.

"Services are clearly being cut at both ends - in hospitals and in the community - and that is a very dangerous path for the NHS to take. Patients are not just waiting on trolleys in corridors but also receiving rushed visits at home or waiting longer for them.

"If the Government wishes to close hospital beds and wards, it is absolutely essential that community services are protected. Andrew Lansley's failure to do that suggests, worryingly, that he has no clear plan for the efficiency challenge.

"The NHS is beginning to feel the full effects of this Government's mismanagement. By inflicting a huge re-organisation on the NHS at the same time as the financial challenge, eyes have been taken off the ball. Haphazard cuts are being made across the system and patients are paying the price for the Government's incompetence.

"Instead of debating the finer points of Lords reform, Cameron and Clegg need to focus on what matters to patients and the public and urgently get a grip."