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Labour Claims 'Secret' Tory Plan To Cut Nurses

Labour has accused the Conservatives of having "secret" plans to slash the number of nurses in the NHS after the election.

The party claims the cuts are revealed in an official government document, which forecasts NHS trusts will employ nearly 2,000 fewer nurses over the next four years.

But the Tories have dismissed the claims, arguing the report - Health Education England's Workforce Plan - was based on out-of-date figures before they committed to increase NHS spending.

It said the Conservative-led Coalition had inherited a "nursing crisis" from Labour, and pointed to the scandal at Stafford Hospital.

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Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: "These plans show the NHS simply cannot take five more years of David Cameron. He is saying one thing in public but drawing up plans in secret to cut nurses.

"It is clear the Tory NHS promises have an expiry date of 8 May stamped on them.

"Hospitals are already at their limits and staff are working wonders, but this plan will push them over the edge. It proves David Cameron's promises on the NHS can't be trusted.

"Labour has set out a better plan to invest £2.5bn extra each year - on top of Tory spending plans - paid for by a mansion tax on homes worth £2m, to fund 20,000 more nurses and 8,000 more GPs."

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Labour also pointed to analysis by the independent House of Commons Library of the latest NHS Workforce Census, which showed the number of nurses per million of the population had fallen from 5,324 in September 2009 to 5,172 in September 2014.

However, the Conservatives said the workforce plan, published in December, pre-dated the party's pledge to increase health spending in England by £8bn a year by the end of the next parliament.

A spokesman said: "This government inherited a nursing crisis with the scandal of short-staffed wards at Mid Staffs and other failing hospitals.

"We have turned that round with 6,900 more nurses on our wards and a new focus on compassionate care.

'Unlike Labour, we have committed the additional £8bn a year the NHS says it needs, which is the only way to ensure hospitals have the money they need to increase staff.

"This investment is only possible because we have built a strong economy which Ed Miliband and the SNP would put at risk."

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