We are only on the third week of 2023 and already Christmas feels like a distant memory.
In the last few days, residents have seen increasing pressure on our much loved NHS, with a prolonged winter crisis affecting vital services in Berkshire and across the country.
The NHS is in crisis after 13 years of Conservative mismanagement, people are finding it impossible to get a GP appointment or an operation when they need one.
In an emergency, there’s no guarantee an ambulance will arrive on time if one arrives at all.
Twenty four hours in A&E isn’t just a TV programme, it is the grim reality for patients waiting in pain.
The longer the Conservatives are in power, the longer patients will wait. The Conservatives blame everything from the weather to the pandemic and even NHS staff.
But it is 13 years of their failure that has left the health service in crisis.
Now seven million people are waiting months and even years for treatment, held back from working and living their lives to the full. We can’t build a healthy economy without a healthy society.
A Labour government will pull every available lever to get patients treated sooner, including using spare capacity in the private sector. But sticking plasters aren’t enough.
We have to grasp the root cause of the crisis in the NHS.
The next Labour government will train a new generation of doctors, nurses, and midwives to treat patients on time again.
Labour will double the number of medical school places, train 10,000 extra nurses and midwives every year, double the number of district nurses qualifying each year and create 5,000 more health visitors paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status, because patients need treatment more than the wealthiest need a tax break.
Labour will put patients first and enable them to easily book appointments to see the doctor they want, in the manner they choose – whether it’s face-to-face, over the phone, or online.
We will make the NHS fit for the future, so it delivers better care for the patient and better value for the taxpayer.
Prevention is better than cure, so we shift the focus of care out of the hospital and into the community, reforming primary care so we can diagnose patients quicker and intervene earlier.
More doctors, more nurses, shorter waiting times, better care. That’s the difference a Labour government will make.
Matt Rodda is the MP for Reading East
