Health Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced £140 million for urgent care in England and warned that this winter will be more challenging for the NHS after such a heavy summer. The money will fund 14 schemes across the country, including new urgent care centres, ambulance fleets and upgrades to emergency departments.
About a third of it, £42 million, will pay for a complete overhaul of the A&E department at Queen's Hospital in Romford, east London. Its chief executive, Fiona Wheeler, called it a landmark moment for the hospital.
The pressure is already visible. Almost 7.3 million people attended A&E between June and August, the highest figure for a summer period. In September, experts warned of a twin crisis in which record summer temperatures would combine with seasonal flu and norovirus. The NHS national medical director, Professor Frankie Swords, said early-season flu admissions were the highest she could recall for this time of year, with Covid admissions also expected to rise. The NHS has been preparing since July, though no specific performance targets have been given. An NHS executive director, Emma Rowland, said the winter will be tough and that investment in same-day emergency care and urgent treatment centres should help patients get the right care.
Reaction was mixed. Patricia Marquis of a nursing union in England welcomed the money in the short term but called it another sticking plaster on a system at breaking point, said nursing staff are going into winter short-staffed and urged ministers to fund workforce growth in the upcoming Budget. Shadow Health Secretary Damian Hinds said the government needs to act but must explain where the money is coming from, and criticised what he called unfunded spending commitments and a continuing NHS reorganisation.
