Over 60 local residents and healthcare workers including GPs had the chance to question Shadow Health Minister Liz Kendall about Labour’s plans for the NHS yesterday.
THE EVENT which took place in Whitehawk was hosted by Nancy Platts, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven.
Also speaking at the event were Frances McCabe, Chair of Healthwatch Brighton and Hove who outlined the work of Healthwatch and Dr Anita Amin a local GP who spoke about her experiences as a GP and how she would like to see the NHS develop in the future.
Nancy Platts, who has worked with many healthcare charities including Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Diabetes UK, said: “I want to pay tribute to everyone who works in the NHS, for their commitment and dedication to delivering a world class health service. This event was about bringing local people and those working at the sharp end of the NHS closer to those who are making the big decisions about the future of our health service in Parliament. A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to come and share their thoughts over a light lunch. If elected as the MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven in May 2015 my job will be to listen and be the voice of the constituency in Westminster and holding these gatherings is one way I intend to do that.”
The discussion covered the needs of an ageing population, nutrition and malnutrition, managing the growing number of people with long-term conditions, keeping the NHS public, staff pay and the retention of GPs. People also expressed concerns about waiting times for GP appointments and the impact of this on A&E.
Liz Kendall, Shadow Health Minister for Care and Older People, added: “David Cameron’s disastrous NHS reorganisation has cost £3 billion and inflicted chaos on the NHS. We can see signs of stress in all parts of the system – waiting lists are rising, people are struggling to see their GP and the cancer treatment target has been missed for the last 9 months in a row. The effects can be felt here in Brighton too – the local A&E has now missed the 4 hour waiting target for 45 weeks in a row – this means more than 18,000 people waited more than 4 hours in A&E in Brighton over the past year.”
“Ed Miliband has announced a range of measures to protect and improve services, including a guaranteed GP appointment within 48 hours and a new ‘Time to Care’ fund that would raise an additional £2.5 billion to recruit 20,000 more nurses, 8,000 more GPs, 5,000 extra home care workers and 3,000 more midwives. This would be funded by clamping down on tax avoidance, raising revenue from tobacco companies and introducing a mansion tax on properties worth over £2 million.”