David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn clashed over the NHS and even managed to have a minor spat about Christmas greetings in their last prime minister’s questions of the year.
The Labour leader put Cameron under pressure over the impending squeeze on NHS services this winter, and took him to task over the cancellation of hospital performance data.
The prime minister admitted accident and emergency departments were facing challenges and said more data was being published about the NHS now than under Labour.
Corbyn referred to a National Audit Office report highlighting the huge deficits of NHS trusts and questioned whether Cameron would be continuing his protests against spending cuts in his Oxfordshire constituency of Witney.
“This issue of adult social care and cuts in local government spending are very much the responsibility of central government,” Corbyn said. “Can you confirm that NHS trusts are forecasting a deficit of £2.2bn this year and indeed, I understand – you, as part of the Oxford anti-austerity movement, will be concerned about this – that your own local healthcare trust is predicting a £1.7m deficit?
“There is a problem of NHS funding: have you forgotten the simple maxim that prevention is cheaper and better than cure?”
Cameron attacked Labour for having failed to commit to as much funding for the NHS as the Conservatives before the election. “How can you possibly complain about NHS funding when your party didn’t commit to fund the Stevens plan?” he said. “We are spending £19bn more on the NHS, money that wouldn’t be available if we’d listened to the Labour party.”
Corbyn had begun the exchange by wishing everybody a happy Christmas, prompting Cameron to make a dig about not offering season’s greetings.
“Let me join the right honourable gentleman and let me be very clear that I don’t want to wish him the season’s greetings, I want a full happy Christmas for the right honourable gentleman and everyone in the house,” Cameron said.
Corbyn responded: “Just for the record, I did say happy Christmas. Maybe the prime minister wasn’t listening at the time.”
