Out-of-touch Rishi Sunak was urged to "come clean" today after he repeatedly refused to say whether he has private healthcare.
As patients struggle to access the crisis-hit NHS and health staff strike over pay, the multi-millionaire Prime Minister dodged questions on the issue.
He told the BBC questions over whether he is registered with a private GP practice charging £250 for a 30 minute appointment were a "distraction" and "not really relevant".
Royal College of Nursing general secretary Pat Cullen blasted: “He needed to come clean as a public servant… When you’re accountable to the public, you have to be honest with them.”
Labour's Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting claimed the PM "gave the impression of someone who not only doesn't use the NHS but doesn't under the scale of the challenge or have a plan to deal with the fundamental problems" facing the health service.
The PM also told people to stop “bandying around” claims that 300 to 500 people are dying a week due to “delays and problems with urgent and emergency care”.
The figure was highlighted by the head of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
Yet Mr Sunak said: “The NHS have themselves said they don’t recognise those numbers and would be careful about bandying them around.”
Meanwhile the Prime Minister refused to say he’d work in a care home for £18,000, saying: “The job I’m doing is making a difference to the country as Prime Minister.”
The row came as the chief executive of one of the country's biggest hospitals said the NHS was facing its "toughest time" by some distance - and one of his nurses cries every night.
Professor Clive Kay, the Chief Executive of King's College Hospital, told the BBC : "I've been in the NHS for close to 40 years.
“Every year is tougher, every year seems tougher than the last, but by some distance this is toughest time.
"It is now pretty relentless and the reality is we are having to carry out corridor care.
"Sometimes and it is awful we do have patients in our A&E departments for several days".
Prof Kay said one experienced nurse told him on Friday evening: "I've been doing this job for 10 years and now after every shift I go home and cry because I can't deliver the sort of care I used to be able to.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer said the NHS "is not just on its knees, it's on its face".
Yet as NHS waiting lists top 7million after 13 years of Tory rule, Mr Sunak said: “I can’t help that Covid happened.
“I can’t help that there are now thousands of people in hospitals who would not normally be there.
“But we are making a difference in moving them back to social care settings or their homes as quickly as possible.”
Mr Sunak was questioned by the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg - where he repeatedly refused to comment on his own healthcare.
In November, reports emerged the Prime Minister uses a west London clinic that charges £250 for a half-hour appointment.
The surgery also offers e-mail and phone consultations for £150, home visits for £400 to £500, and prescriptions for £80.
The first time he was asked, he said: “As a general policy I wouldn’t ever talk about me or my family’s healthcare situation.
“It’s not really relevant to this. What’s relevant is the difference I can make to the country.”
Asked why he wouldn’t say, he replied: “It’s a personal choice… I think what people care about is am I going to make a difference on the thing they care about.
“When it comes to the NHS, I grew up in an NHS family, my dad was a GP, my mum was a pharmacist. I think my track record matters more than these things”.
Asked a third time “why won’t you tell us?” he replied: "It's a distraction from what the real issue is.
“And the real issue should is are we making sure that there's high quality health care available for the country?”
On the private sector in general he said “we should be making use of the independent sector, I don’t have any problem with that whatsoever.”
It comes after Labour urged the PM to send more NHS patients to spare private capacity to treat 230,000 more people in nine months.
Keir Starmer told Sky News: “We're not talking about privatising the NHS, we’re talking about using the private sector effectively.”
Mr Starmer said Labour will review its approach to the NHS as part of a 10-year plan, which could include “a route for self-referral” to specialists rather than all patients having to go through GPs.
He said it could also involve using local pharmacies more to look at prescriptions.
Top Tory Steve Barclay today hinted NHS staff could get a pay rise.
But the stubborn Health Secretary will only do it for NEXT year - and only if staff get more “productive and efficient”.
Ahead of crunch talks with unions tomorrow, Mr Barclay yet again refused to reopen pay talks over the 4.75% deal for NHS staff in 2022/23.
Instead, he said he would hold “constructive” conversations about pay in 2023/24.
Yet he added any settlement should be “more affordable, where there are productivity and efficiency opportunities”.
Unions have already blasted the Monday talks and said 2022/23 pay must be resolved to give workers a pay rise now.
Two days of nursing strikes on January 18-19 will be the largest in the world if he refuses to negotiate, the union said.
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary Pat Cullen urged the Prime Minister to meet “halfway” - and could accept around 10%, down from an ask of 19%.
The NHS will soon “buy up” thousands of care beds to move hospital patients to free up space under a new fund, according to the Sunday Times.
The newspaper reported an emergency winter pressure package will include a hospital discharge fund.
Grilled by the BBC, Rishi Sunak did not categorically rule out paying nurses more this year - claiming “the door has always been open”.
He said: "When it comes to pay we've always said we want to talk about things that are reasonable, that are affordable and responsible for the country."
But he repeatedly referred to Monday’s talks on pay for 2023/24 - not 2022/23.
Royal College of Nursing General Secretary Pat Cullen said his words were a “chink of optimism” and “a little shift” - but talks “must be about addressing pay from 2022/23”.
