Hunt’s diagnosis

For, while the breakdown in out-of-hours care was accelerated by changes to the GP contract under Labour when doctors were paid more to do less, it is family doctors who are now responsible for the allocation of cash resources.

And, despite Mr Hunt’s intervention, there is no prospect of doctors increasing their levels of responsibility unless there are any tangible benefits, and this is unlikely at a time of financial austerity.

Yet the status quo cannot persist. One reason hospital casualty units are becoming so overstretched, with a significant increase in the number of patients waiting more than four hours for treatment, is because of the chaotic introduction of the new 111 telephone service – the successor to New Labour’s NHS Direct.

Given this, and the continuing failure of so many GP surgeries to provide an appointments system that is “fit for purpose”, it is inevitable that people will go to their local hospital.

However, a note of caution should accompany Labour’s vitriolic attacks against the coalition. Its health spokesman Andy Burnham still appears to be denial about his own record at the Department of Health when he did painfully little to tackle the out-of-hours care crisis or the shameful neglect of patients in Mid Staffordshire.

A more mature approach would be for the main parties to build a consensus on A&E care, but the painful reality is that it is not going to happen in a political climate when the answer to any challenge is to blame someone else rather than accept responsibility.