Critics have slammed Rishi Sunak's "too little, too late" attempt to convene health leaders and experts for a summit on the NHS crisis.
The Prime Minister will stage an “NHS Recovery Forum” on Saturday despite refusing to engage with health staff over pay nor rule out sacking them if they continue to strike.
The Health Secretary, the boss of NHS England and clinical experts from Royal Colleges and independent sector organisations are among those who will attend.
Labour has slammed the move, saying it is the “equivalent of the arsonists convening a forum with the fire brigade to put out the inferno they started”.
The Forum will focus on social care and delayed discharge, urgent and emergency care, elective care and primary care.
It comes as ambulance handover delays climbed to a new high in the week before the New Year, according to fresh figures .
The data showed just over a quarter - 26% - of patients waiting over an hour to be handed to hospital A&E teams.
Further to that, more than 2,600 ambulance workers who are members at Unite union will strike on January 23 in an ongoing dispute over pay.
It is on top of ambulance workers at Unison union already walking out on the same date. They are also staging action with GMB on January 11.
Nurses will also walk out on January 18 and 19, while up to 45,000 junior doctors in England could stage a walkout for 72 hours in March if they vote in favour of strikes.
Commenting on the Forum, Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “After thirteen years of mismanaging the NHS, this is the equivalent of the arsonists convening a forum with the fire brigade to put out the inferno they started.
“Patients deserve more than a talking shop. Clinical leaders and health experts have been sounding the alarm for months about the crisis the NHS is facing, so why has it taken so long for Rishi Sunak and Steve Barclay to decide to listen to them?
“They can't even deliver this list of obvious sticking-plaster solutions - the £500 million for delayed discharges is yet to reach the front line and is now too late to make a difference this winter.
“After five Conservative prime ministers and seven health secretaries it’s clear that the longer the Conservatives are in power, the longer patients will wait.”
Liberal Democrat Health spokeswoman and Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “This meeting is too little, too late.
“Hundreds of people have been dying needlessly each week in the worst NHS crisis ever experienced in this country, whilst the Prime Minister sat on his hands.
“The Liberal Democrats continue to call on the PM to declare a national critical incident and release the full £500m allocated to discharging patients out of hospital and into social care, without further delay.
“What’s more, Sunak needs to stop operating at a snail’s pace, and start acting with the speed and urgency this unprecedented NHS crisis deserves.”
A Downing Street spokesman said: “As the Prime Minister made clear this week, easing the immediate pressures whilst also focussing on the long-term improvement of the NHS is one of his key promises.
“That’s why we’re bringing together the best minds from the health and care sectors to help share knowledge and practical solutions so that we can tackle the most crucial challenges such as delayed discharge and emergency care.
“We want to correct the unwarranted variation in NHS performance between local areas, because no matter where you live you should be able to access quality healthcare.”
