Today the Coalition is providing an extra £500m to ease pressure on A&E departments helping to ensure people get the treatment they need. This funding will provide support to local hospitals during the busy winter period this year. This will go hand in hand with our more long term approach to tackling demand on A&E departments. We are joining up health and care services to prevent people reaching crisis point and ending up in A&E. By providing care closer to home we are making sure that people get better care and that our NHS is sustainable for the future. Chester Liberal Democrats Chairperson, Mark A Williams, said, “Committing more money to the NHS can only be a good thing and Libdems in government are being fair and responsible by tackling the issues that the NHS faces.”