Opinion: NHS needs funding and support

This will be familiar to families across Peterborough used to the 8am scramble on the phone to book a doctor’s appointment.

​People are fed up with excuses from this government. Here in Peterborough, we have brilliant, dedicated NHS workforce doing their best. But they need funding and support to do their job properly.

Back in 2012, 4 out of 5 people said they could easily book a doctor’s appointment. Under the Tories, the NHS is at breaking point, whether that’s trying to see a doctor, NHS waiting times or the shortage of NHS dentists in the city. From Bretton to Thorney, as Labour group leader, I get contacted, alongside Andrew Pakes, Labour’s candidate to be our next MP, by residents concerned about access to a doctor and the state of the NHS.

Since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, thousands of patients have been let down.

Now his party are moving the goalposts, cutting standards for patients when they should be cutting waiting times instead. Goodness knows, I know. I have been on the waiting list for a hip replacement, in an ever-increasing amount of pain since August – of last year!

Last week, we got the good news that Peterborough Hospital will get 72 new beds by the middle of 2024. I will always welcome investment in the city. But we need a long-term plan to fix the NHS, not just ‘sticking plaster’ solutions from the government.

There are more than 80,000 people waiting to start treatment at local hospitals. This is a record, but not one we should be celebrating. It’s the same with mental health provision and NHS dentists. We are breaking records for all the wrong reasons.

The Tories appear to have given up on ‘serious’ government, preferring to try and divert our attention with culture wars and gimmicks. So, if the Conservatives won’t stand up for patients, Labour will!

Labour will never abandon a publicly funded NHS, free at the point of need. It’s not the model of funding that needs to change, it’s where, and how, care is delivered.

The NHS needs investment and reform. Take the case of the last Labour Government which delivered the shortest waiting times and highest patient satisfaction in history. We are an expanding city, with increasing inequality, so we need the NHS to grow with us. Extra investment must be met with higher standards for patients and the state of the public finances means that reform will have to do more of the heavy lifting. This is where Labour is leading the charge.

We spend far too much money on treating diseases that have been diagnosed too late. 4.5 million people are going to A&E each year because they can’t get a GP appointment.

That’s not only worse for them but also more expensive for us, the taxpayer. Pouring ever increasing funds into secondary care will never be enough to meet the growing demand created by the failure to reform. We need to reform the NHS to shift the focus from hospitals to the community and from treatment to prevention.

We know the importance of early diagnosis and fast treatment. With Labour, the NHS will be there for cancer patients when they need it, once again. We will provide the staff, modern technology, and reform needed to bring down waiting lists to safe, and manageable levels.