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NHS finance problem being ignored, says former boss
The NHS is facing a "substantial financial problem" which politicians are ignoring in the election campaign, the former head of the service says.
Sir David Nicholson, who retired last year, told the BBC the NHS in England was accruing large deficits which would become "crystal clear" later this year.
But he said instead of talking about how to address these, politicians were focusing on expanding services.
He said the situation caused him "very great concern".
In an interview for BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir David - who ran the NHS in England for eight years - said that because there was an election period, the NHS was unable to publish the latest report on its financial position.
But he said it was "pretty clear in the NHS that there is a substantial financial problem, particularly in the hospital sector" which would become "crystal clear" in the autumn.
During the interview he said:
It would be "helpful" if Labour committed to an extra £8bn of funding, as the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have
But all parties needed to make it available immediately, not by the end of the parliament
Politicians were talking about extra services when there was already a "financial hole"
Planned NHS efficiencies of £22bn were a "big ask"
Failure to achieve them would lead to "managed decline" of the NHS and patients waiting longer for treatment
He expects "emergency action" such as vacancy freezes to tackle the financial difficulties
The coalition government's NHS reforms were a "surprise" and "significant distraction"
He defended his role in Stafford Hospital scandal where he spent 10 months in charge of the local health authority in 2005 and 2006
Sir David predicted the scale of the problem would be bigger than the one he inherited in 2006 on becoming NHS chief executive, when the health service had accrued a £1bn deficit.
"I have not heard in most of t