Labour: Social care cuts to blame for ambulance increase

Labour said the ambulance figures confirm that cuts to social care funding are driving up the need for hospital attention among the elderly.

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said data in the House of Commons library shows that local authority spending on adult social care has been cut by £1.8bn since 2009/10.

He said: “These shocking figures expose the growing crisis in older people’s care on David Cameron’s watch.

“The Government’s severe cuts to social care have left thousands of older people without the support they need – at risk of going into hospital and getting trapped there. It is one of the root causes of David Cameron’s A&E crisis.

“It is appalling to think that every week there are thousands of frail and frightened people speeding through our towns and cities in the backs of ambulances to be left in a busy A&E.”