The Guardian reports that Labour has released figures showing that the number of hospitals criticised by the Care and Quality Commission for not providing safe care has tripled. In the year to March 2014, 45 hospitals were identified as failing to provide “safe and appropriate care”, up from 16 in the same period in the previous year. The number of hospitals criticised for not having adequate staff, also increased, from 14 to 32. Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham attacked the Government by saying that these figures proved the NHS is “heading seriously downhill on this government’s watch”.
