More money will not solve A&E crisis, says minister

SAJID JAVID has suggested the Government cannot do anything more to tackle A&E pressures as he said throwing money at the problem would not solve the crisis.

The Health Secretary said that he was “horrified” to see the video emerge of a nurse in a casualty unit telling patients they may be waiting up to 13 hours to see a doctor.

But he told delegates at the NHS Confedexpo conference in Liverpool that “the answer to all the challenges that we face in healthcare cannot always be more money”.

The “root cause” of A&E pressures is linked to the pandemic, Mr Javid said, with the flow of patients out of hospital into social care significantly affected.

Asked what he plans to do to fix the current crisis, he said: “I genuinely think we are doing everything that is conceivable right now. There is no sort of quick cure to this.”

Amanda Pritchard, NHS England chief executive, said issues in emergency care were not likely to be resolved soon. “You can trace the line from delayed discharges to A&E crowding, all the way through to slower ambulance response times,” she said. “It is difficult to see social care capacity being significantly expanded ahead of winter.”