Responding to the news that 200 armed forces personnel have been drawn in to help in hospitals across London amidst the NHS staff shortage crisis, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: “Whilst Conservative Ministers pat themselves on their backs for inaction, the ability of our health and care services to provide urgent care to patients is now in freefall.
“The magnitude of the catastrophic staffing shortages in our NHS and care system is being laid bare. Boris Johnson seems to be in denial about the desperate situation in which our local health services are finding themselves.
“Drawing in help from military personnel is just a temporary sticking plaster, it is not sustainable in the long-run. The Government needs to urgently ramp up the supply of lateral flow tests, develop a long-term NHS and care workforce strategy and set out a plan to tackle the emormous backlog of cancelled NHS operations that is growing by the day.”