Ed Miliband said Labour would bring in 20,000 additional nurses to ease the burden on accident and emergency departments Ed Miliband promised to draft in extra nurses to help ease pressure on the NHS if he wins the next election – as the British Red Cross was drafted in to help hospitals cope with the worst A&E crisis in a decade. The NHS has been thrust into the political spotlight after figures release this week revealed it missed its four hour A&E waiting time target with performance dropping to its lowest level in 10 years.