Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health
Secretary, has today accused Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt of “trying to cover
up" a new round of NHS cuts, which include closing wards and
services, extending waiting times and stopping treatments.
The NHS Capped Expenditure Process
involves hundreds of millions of pounds of reductions to local health
economies, but Government Ministers have so far refused to comment on the
proposals.
Jonathan Ashworth
said:
“I’ve today written to Health Secretary
Jeremy Hunt asking a raft of questions and outlining in no uncertain terms the
major concern that Labour has regarding hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts
to local health budgets.
“The process has been going on since at
least April but so far there has been no announcement from the Health
Secretary, his Ministers or the Department for Health. There is an astonishing
lack of transparency around this whole process.
“Across the country patients and their families are living in fear
that local services they rely on will be cut back to plug black hole which this
government has created.
“This government wants to give the impression that this is for NHS
managers to sort out and wash their hands of a process which involves hundreds
of millions of pounds of public money. This is an unacceptable abdication of
responsibilities to patients and the public and gives the impression of trying
to cover up this new round of NHS cuts.”
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