Hunt grilled: could the Tories really afford a 24/7 NHS?

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has been defending a pledge made by Conservative leader David Cameron to provide an NHS available seven days a week in England by 2020.

He told Channel 4 News the government has been making “good progress” on making more services available for longer.

Decision-makers aren’t always there. David Cameron

Mr Cameron made the promise at his party’s spring conference.

He admitted that patients “are actually more likely to die if you turn up at the hospital at the weekend”.

“Some of the resources are not up and running,” he added. “The key decision-makers aren’t always there.”

But Labour said Mr Cameron was misleading voters, having broken promises made before the 2010 election.

Labour’s campaign vice chair Lucy Powell said: “On the NHS, David Cameron misled people in 2010 and he’s misleading them again today.

“When he pledges seven-day-a-week care in the NHS, people will remember that he did exactly the same before the last election, only to break his word.”