The Labour Party has just produced its health manifesto:
The NHS is now in real difficulties right across the South West. Most NHS Trusts across England are running out of money. Devon CCG is trying to save £430m. Almost all our hospitals are failing to meet waiting list targets.
The Labour Party’s main proposals are:
- Recruit 20,000 more nurses and 8,000 more GPs, paid for through a £2.5 billion Time to Care Fund, funded by a mansion tax on properties worth over £2 million, tackling tax avoidance and a levy on tobacco firms
- Guarantee a GP appointment within 48 hours and on the same day for those who need it
- Guarantee a maximum one-week wait for cancer tests and create a new Cancer Treatments Fund to improve access to drugs, radiotherapy and surgery
- Join up services from home to hospital with a single point of contact for those who need it – bringing together physical health, mental health and social care
- Improve access to mental health support, with a new right to talking therapies enshrined in the NHS Constitution – just as people currently have a right to drugs and medical treatments
- Tackle the scandal of 15 minute care slots, recruit 5,000 new care workers to help provide care for those with the greatest needs at home, and introduce a new system of safety checks for vulnerable older people
- Ensure that when changes are proposed to local hospital services, patients and the public have a seat around the table from the very start, helping design and decide on plans for change
- Repeal the Health and Social Care Act to scrap David Cameron’s privatisation plans and put the right values back at the heart of the NHS
cllrpaul4cowick 