STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

Jeremy Hunt is under pressure to order the publication of a set of reports showing the full extent of pressures on hospitals in England, amid accusations that the Government is attempting to downplay the scale of a potential winter A&E crisis. Labour said the failure of the NHS to publish its weekly “winter pressures situation reports” raised fears that the Health Secretary “doesn’t want people to know what’s happening on the NHS frontline”. And experts believe that vulnerable people are having more accidents in the home because of cuts in social care. The NHS insists there has been no political interference. Nonetheless, the reason for the delay remains unclear. If previous practice is followed, whereby figures are published weekly, the delay means that most of the November weeks’ figures would not be made public.