Ed Miliband is under intense pressure to agree to two inquiries into Labour’s health service in Wales. As the Daily Mail’s investigation into allegations of appalling failings of Welsh patients dominated Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron accused Labour of causing the crisis by slashing NHS funding. He told MPs that the British Medical Association and even some Labour MPs were now calling for a public inquiry in Wales into claims of neglect, long waiting lists and poor access to lifesaving treatments. Facing questions: Ed Miliband at Prime Ministers' Questions yesterday, where he heard even some Labour MPs are calling for a public inquiry into the state of the Labour-run Welsh NHS - the focus of a Mail investigation . The Prime Minister also challenged Labour leader Mr Miliband to allow a separate review by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to go ahead. The international body wants to compare health services in the four nations of the UK. The Prime Minister rejected the Labour leader’s claim that the health and social care systems in England are at ‘breaking point’, with ‘millions of people unable to see their GP’ and ‘the longest waits in A&E for ten years’. Mr Cameron said under the Coalition, 1.3million more outpatients are being treated by 2,500 more nurses and 8,000 more doctors. ‘A record we can be proud of,’ he said. ‘Why? Because we invested in the NHS, they cut the NHS in Wales.’ Strain: Ed Miliband is under intense pressure to agree to two inquiries into Labour’s health service in Wales . The fourth day of the Mail’s investigation reveals how: . Yesterday the Liberal Democrats also attacked Labour’s record, accusing the party of ‘wrecking’ the NHS in Wales. Norman Lamb, the party’s health minister, said: ‘Labour will not back an independent OECD study into the NHS in Wales is because they are scared of the outcome. ‘Ed Miliband and [shadow health secretary] Andy Burnham refused to protect NHS funding in this Parliament and they can’t be trusted with it in government again.’ Mr Cameron said under the Coalition, 1.3million more outpatients are being treated by 2,500 more nurses and 8,000 more doctors. 'A record we can be proud of,’ he said. ‘Why? Because we invested in the NHS' Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb said: ‘It’s quite wrong of the Welsh Labour Party to seek to shut down debate and shut down scrutiny…when it comes to the most important issue for the people of Wales.’ Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt upped the pressure on Mr Miliband by writing to him urging him to support the OECD study ‘according to the timetable that was previously agreed with the Welsh health minister’. He added: ‘These are the facts about the Labour-run NHS in Wales today: The health budget was cut by 8 per cent; the last time A&E targets were met was in March 2008; the eight-minute ambulance response time target has been met once since May 2012.’ A senior Labour source said: ‘What we have here is a politically-motivated smear campaign by a Prime Minister who has forgotten his job is to save the NHS.’ The source said Labour had made clear it is willing for the OECD to review the health service’s record in Wales, but was concerned the Tories would use draft findings for political purposes. Last night, ambulance service trust chief Tracy Myhill apologised to patients and families ‘whose experience of our services has been unacceptable’ and she insisted that performance was improving.
PM said BMA and even some Labour MPs are calling for public inquiry .
Commons row came ahead of Day 4 of Daily Mail probe into Welsh NHS .
Elderly patients forced to wait up to two and a half hours in ambulances .
Welsh Ambulance Service drafting in costly private vehicles from Bristol .
600 people taken by police because of unavailable ambulances in 3 years .
Labour sources accuse Cameron of 'politically-motivated smear campaign'
Mail reporters witnessed elderly patients being forced to wait up to two and a half hours in ambulances parked outside Wales’s largest hospital; .
The Welsh Ambulance Service is drafting in costly private vehicles from Bristol to cover emergencies around Newport while it tries to recruit more staff; .
A former paramedic wrote to the Welsh health minister warning that the ambulance service was ‘desperate for more resources’ and becoming more stretched through closure of regional health facilities.
Some 267 patients spent four hours or more waiting in the back of an ambulance before being treated at Welsh emergency departments last year, according to Liberal Democrat figures. Several patients have died after ambulance delays.
Police in Wales were called on to take at least 600 sick people to hospital in the three years to April because ambulances were not available, statistics obtained by Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru show.
Ed Miliband is under intense pressure to agree to two inquiries into Labour’s health service in Wales. As the Daily Mail’s investigation into allegations of appalling failings of Welsh patients dominated Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron accused Labour of causing the crisis by slashing NHS funding. He told MPs that the British Medical Association and even some Labour MPs were now calling for a public inquiry in Wales into claims of neglect, long waiting lists and poor access to lifesaving treatments. Facing questions: Ed Miliband at Prime Ministers' Questions yesterday, where he heard even some Labour MPs are calling for a public inquiry into the state of the Labour-run Welsh NHS - the focus of a Mail investigation . The Prime Minister also challenged Labour leader Mr Miliband to allow a separate review by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to go ahead. The international body wants to compare health services in the four nations of the UK. The Prime Minister rejected the Labour leader’s claim that the health and social care systems in England are at ‘breaking point’, with ‘millions of people unable to see their GP’ and ‘the longest waits in A&E for ten years’. Mr Cameron said under the Coalition, 1.3million more outpatients are being treated by 2,500 more nurses and 8,000 more doctors. ‘A record we can be proud of,’ he said. ‘Why? Because we invested in the NHS, they cut the NHS in Wales.’ Strain: Ed Miliband is under intense pressure to agree to two inquiries into Labour’s health service in Wales . The fourth day of the Mail’s investigation reveals how: . Yesterday the Liberal Democrats also attacked Labour’s record, accusing the party of ‘wrecking’ the NHS in Wales. Norman Lamb, the party’s health minister, said: ‘Labour will not back an independent OECD study into the NHS in Wales is because they are scared of the outcome. ‘Ed Miliband and [shadow health secretary] Andy Burnham refused to protect NHS funding in this Parliament and they can’t be trusted with it in government again.’ Mr Cameron said under the Coalition, 1.3million more outpatients are being treated by 2,500 more nurses and 8,000 more doctors. 'A record we can be proud of,’ he said. ‘Why? Because we invested in the NHS' Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb said: ‘It’s quite wrong of the Welsh Labour Party to seek to shut down debate and shut down scrutiny…when it comes to the most important issue for the people of Wales.’ Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt upped the pressure on Mr Miliband by writing to him urging him to support the OECD study ‘according to the timetable that was previously agreed with the Welsh health minister’. He added: ‘These are the facts about the Labour-run NHS in Wales today: The health budget was cut by 8 per cent; the last time A&E targets were met was in March 2008; the eight-minute ambulance response time target has been met once since May 2012.’ A senior Labour source said: ‘What we have here is a politically-motivated smear campaign by a Prime Minister who has forgotten his job is to save the NHS.’ The source said Labour had made clear it is willing for the OECD to review the health service’s record in Wales, but was concerned the Tories would use draft findings for political purposes. Last night, ambulance service trust chief Tracy Myhill apologised to patients and families ‘whose experience of our services has been unacceptable’ and she insisted that performance was improving.
patients dominated Prime Minister’s Questions, the British Medical Association and even some Labour MPs were now calling for a public inquiry in Wales into claims of neglect, long waiting Labour MPs are calling for a public inquiry into services in the four nations of the UK. The Prime at ‘breaking point’, with ‘millions of people A&E for ten years’. Mr Cameron said under the Coalition, 1.3million more outpatients are being intense pressure to agree to two inquiries into minister, said: ‘Labour will not back an him to support the OECD study ‘according to the timetable that was previously agreed with the Welsh health minister’. He added: ‘These are the politically-motivated smear campaign by a Prime NHS.’ The source said Labour had made clear it is purposes. Last night, ambulance service trust