‘Make this year last winter crisis in NHS’, Davey urges Labour in keynote speech

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Labour “could and should make this year the last winter crisis in our NHS”, Sir Ed Davey has said in his autumn conference keynote speech. We will urge the Government to act faster and be much bolder, because the challenges we face cannot be solved by burying our heads in the sand and pretending they don’t exist – like the Conservatives do Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey “Show the ambition and urgency this moment demands and save our NHS for good.” The party leader, on the fourth and final day of the conference, later said: “We will urge the Government to act faster and be much bolder, because the challenges we face cannot be solved by burying our heads in the sand and pretending they don’t exist – like the Conservatives do. “But where ministers act in the national interest – to solve such problems and improve people’s lives – we will support them.” According to Liberal Democrat analysis of NHS figures, ambulances across England collectively spent a total of 112 years waiting outside hospitals to hand over patients last winter, and between November 2023 and March 2024, 732,000 patients faced A&E waits of over four hours to be admitted. Conservative Party chairman Richard Fuller said in response: “This confirms that Ed Davey will not hold this Labour Government, his ‘pen pals’, to account.