Jeremy Hunt MP

Jeremy Hunt said the GP contract, agreed in 2004, was “fundamentally flawed” because it meant doctors were not responsible for out-of-hours care. “The current GP contract that we have is fundamentally flawed; by removing responsibility f... Continue to article

Stephen Dorrell warned the problems with accident and emergency care in the UK were “getting worse”. “Crisis is a word that is best avoided, certainly for practicing politicians, but it’s undoubtedly something that is getting worse and n... Continue to article

Andy Burnham criticised the Health Secretary for blaming GPs to distract from the Government’s own failings. “[Jeremy Hunt] is pointing the finger at GPs, saying it’s all their fault that A&Es are under pressure. This is to distract atte... Continue to article

Jeremy Hunt said he did not believe one of David Cameron’s inner circle had called Tory activists “swivel-eyed loons”, and said the views of the grassroots were “incredibly important”. "No I don't [believe it]. The person who is alleged ... Continue to article

Jeremy Hunt said the Government needed to take a “fundamental look” at how A&E departments operate amid growing pressure on budgets and a warning from medial and managers’ groups that the service is close to “collapse”. “There are pressu... Continue to article

Jeremy Hunt said the Government had yet to make a decision on whether to go forward with plans on plain packaging for cigarettes and minumum alcohol unit pricing. "We haven’t made a decision and when we have made a decision, we shall see... Continue to article

Andy Burnham criticised the Government for the number of people attending A&E departments. “Well, let’s look at the facts, the number of patients waiting more than four hours in A&E has nearly trebled since the 2010 election and Jeremy H... Continue to article

Jeremy Hunt said he was not blaming GPs for the problems in out-of-hours care, but said it had been a mistake to shift the responsibility to A&E departments. “I wouldn’t use the word crisis: we are still seeing more than 90% of people wi... Continue to article

Jeremy Hunt warned the Royal College of Nursing to be “very careful” after it criticised the Government’s planned reforms to nurse training as “stupid”. “They were severely criticised in the Francis Report into that [Mid Staffs scandal] ... Continue to article

Jeremy Hunt said that NHS staff are already required to speak out if they see misconduct, but did not rule out taking further measures to enforce this. “We’re not ruling that out at all and in fact all NHS employees have a contractual du... Continue to article

Jeremy Hunt said the total cost of ineligible migrants using the NHS was above £200m, despite other estimates placing the figure at approximately £20m. “I don’t want to speculate on what that number might be, but the number we have heard... Continue to article

Jeremy Hunt said the Government's proposals to introduce a minimum alcohol price would depend on the outcome of its consultation, and refused to confirm a U-turn. “No, I can’t [confirm the U-turn] because what’s happened is that we’re do... Continue to article

Jeremy Hunt reiterated his backing for NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson, despite calls for him to resign. “He is the right man for the job, yes… David Nicholson did what his political masters wanted. But he’s also the person who b... Continue to article

Mike Farrar said the Government needed to provide the resources for the NHS to be a world-class health system, ahead of Jeremy Hunt’s speech warning on “complacency” in the service. “The key thing here is that good management can really ... Continue to article

Peter Carter disagreed with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s claim there was “complacency” in the NHS. “No, I don’t [agree]. I actually think that there is a lot of very good management in the NHS and there’s a lot of highly-committed peop... Continue to article