Shropshire Star

General Election: Hunt's pledge on NHS as Labour and Lib Dems give vow on funding

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has acknowledged that failure to hit A&E targets was "not acceptable" but insisted that the Tories were increasing funding and recruiting more doctors and nurses.

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Jeremy Hunt

Labour said the failure to meet the four-hour A&E target in England was "symptomatic of the crisis that the Tories have left our NHS in".

It came the day after the Liberal Democrats pledged to put a penny on income tax to fund a cash injection for the NHS and social care.

Described as their "flagship" spending commitment of the election campaign, party leader Tim Farron said the policy was "the first time a party has offered a real alternative to the current decline in health and social care".

But Mr Hunt insisted that health outcomes had improved in the last five years and focusing on the targets was not a "fair reflection" of NHS performance.

On the A&E target, Mr Hunt said: "The standard says that you should be seen within four hours, not just seen but also treated and either discharged home or admitted to hospital."

On BBC One's Andrew Marr Show he admitted: "We haven't hit it for over two years, it's not acceptable. We have a plan to get back to that standard."