Emma Reynolds MP has raised concerns about the rise in patient waiting times in Accident and Emergency at New Cross Hospital. An increasing number of patients are now having to wait more than four hours to be seen by a doctor in A&E.Like many other hospitals, New Cross is under pressure because of cuts to social care funding and a shortage of nurses and doctors to cope with extra demand.

Emma said “I am deeply concerned about how long my constituents are having to wait in A & E at New Cross Hospital.

“While it is true that the NHS faces the pressure of an ageing and growing population, this Tory-led government is responsible for piling even more pressure on the NHS by a reckless, expensive top-down reorganisation and creating a crisis in social care. One of the big problems is that elderly people are stuck in hospital due to a shortage of nursing care places thanks to this government’s cuts to council budgets.

“Labour will raise an extra £2.5 billion a year for the NHS through a mansion tax on homes worth more than £2 million and a levy on tobacco companies to ensure that the NHS gets the investment it needs to give patients the care they need.”

January 2015