Jade Botterill MP: Labour Government is bringing back the family doctor

Labour is bringing back the family doctor and ending the 8am scramble for appointments. Photo: StockAdobe

As everyone across our community knows, rising waiting times are so much more than a line on a graph. I have spoken to residents locally waiting three years for a hip operation, forced to live with constant pain and immobility; parents sat in ambulances unable to be admitted to A&E; and people who have to wait four weeks just to see their GP – and that’s only if they can get past the phone line.

Jade Botterill, MP for Ossett and Denby Dale, writes:

That’s why the new Labour government is committed to reversing the 14 year trend of rising waiting lists, worsening pressure on staff, and poor outcomes for patients.

While winter is a time where rising illness places greater strain on the NHS, waiting lists and backlogs are too long and have become baked into the system. We know the pandemic played a part in this, but waiting times have been growing since 2012.

On behalf of everyone in our community, I want to thank the NHS staff who have been working so hard, especially over Christmas, to care for patients. But when I speak to staff I am repeatedly told that, despite their tireless work, they simply do not have the facilities to always provide patients with the care they deserve.

We cannot accept that the current situation in our NHS is either inevitable or acceptable.

That’s why I am proud of the record levels of investment the new Labour government is putting into the NHS, giving the health service a much needed nearly £26 billion in additional funding.

This means we can cut the waiting lists with 40,000 extra elective appointments each week, and build the facilities for additional beds to slash waiting times and reduce the need for patients to be cared for in corridors. But we cannot allow the NHS to become a bottomless money pit, so I welcome the government’s plan to reform the NHS and ensure this investment is spent well, aided by £2 billion directed at productivity improvements.

To reduce strain on hospitals, care will be shifted into the community, with Labour bringing back the family doctor and ending the 8am scramble for appointments.

Backed by the biggest boost to their funding in years, Labour will reduce outdated bureaucracy to let GPs spend more time treating patients, and overhaul the NHS app to give patients more choice. Labour will also increase access to community diagnostic centres, so people can be treated faster and closer to home.

To further ease pressure on the NHS, we are significantly investing to deliver social care for disabled and elderly residents in need.

The government’s immediate action to support adult social care includes cutting red tape to ensure billions of joint NHS and social care funding is keeping people healthy, as well as improved career pathways for care workers and new national standards to ensure the quality of care. Care workers will be better supported to take on further duties, such as blood pressure checks, meaning people can receive more routine care at home.

From patients to staff, we all understand the scale of the problem we face, and that it will take investment, reform, and graft to reverse the years of damage to the NHS. This new government refuses to shirk the challenge.