Extra money targeted at emergency services may not have been used for frontline care, say experts

Experts have warned that extra money intended to help with this winter’s pressures on accident and emergency departments in hospitals in England may not have been spent on frontline care and could have gone instead to help trusts tackle their deficits.

MPs on the parliamentary health select committee were told that information was now being sought by doctors’ representatives to ascertain exactly how money has been spent on winter pressures. The committee held an urgent evidence session on 14 January for a new inquiry into accident and emergency services. It follows recent concerns over current pressures on emergency departments, given that performance on targets for these services has dropped to its lowest in 10 years.1

MPs asked what had …