Autumn Statement

In the Chamber today I challenged the Chancellor on the extraordinary measures taken by the Department of Health to balance its budget and asked what he is doing to make sure we have a sustainable National Health Service.

It is deeply disappointing that following a series of Public Accounts Committee reports highlighting grave concerns about health finances, the Chancellor could offer no assurances other than to say budget pressures are being managed inside the NHS.

Only this week the National Audit Office published its own analysis of the worsening financial performance of NHS bodies which highlighted far-fetched assumptions about closing the forecast gap in NHS funding by 2020-21.

I repeat my message to the Prime Minister earlier this month: the sums don't add up. The government must get real and take meaningful action before the financial stresses in the health system cause irreparable damage to the quality of services.