Davey proposes a taskforce.to 'winterproof the NHS'

Sir Ed Davey has set out plans to “winterproof the NHS”, calling for a task force to be established to end the annual winter crises facing the health service.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

The Liberal Democrat leader used his conference speech to urge Sir Keir Starmer to “make this year the last winter crisis in our NHS”.

After opening the speech by singing a few lines of “Take a Chance on Me” by Abba, Sir Ed pointed to the £376m which is spent on average each year tackling the winter crisis in the NHS, calling instead for the cash to be invested in shoring up the service. His proposed taskforce would spend £1.5bn in the next four years to build resilience in hospital wards, A&E departments, ambulance services and patient discharging.

Addressing activists and MPs gathered in Brighton, Sir Ed said: “Practically every year I can remember, governments have ended up announcing hundreds of millions of pounds of emergency funding to help the NHS through another winter crisis. To paper over the cracks.