NHS

GENERAL

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The NHS was born out of a long-held ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth. At its launch by the then minister of health, Aneurin Bevan, on 5 July 1948, it had at its heart three core principles:

  • That it meet the needs of everyone

  • That it be free at the point of delivery

  • That it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay

I owe my life to the NHS. In 2007 I was diagnosed with throat cancr and given just a 30% chance of living 5 years - IF I had the treatment recommended. Had that treatment been chargeable I would not be here today.

PLEDGE: I will never vote for any attempt to make treatment chargeable by the NHS

NURSES

Our caring nurses are amongst the worst paid in the public sector, with awful working conditions and unsocial hours.

And yet we expect them to go into debt to fund their training. Its no surprise that we have a record number of Nursing vacancies (47,000) and the numbers of trainee nurses is falling year on year.

PLEDGE: If elected I would campaign to reinstate the Nursing Bursary

GP’s

Few things irritate me more than sitting in the doctors surgey waiting room - and watching the little LED sign scrolling along telling me that ‘Last month xxx people failed to show up for their appointment and didn’t cancel’

It's estimated that there are nearly 9 million missed appointments in general practices every year in the United Kingdom, costing the NHS £162 million. The situation is equally serious in hospitals.

PLEDGE: If elected I would support moves to charge repeat offenders who miss GP appointments

Privatisation

The NHS is on the agenda driven by Labours allegations about the Tories secret negotiations with the US - which allegedly puts the NHS up for discussion in trade talks.

I'll be clear about this. The NHS should ALWAYS be free at the point of care. I have no problem with companies providing services on behalf of the NHS - BUT ONLY if those companies are improving the service currently offered, or bringing down costs (or indeed both) IE improving efficiency. And are BRITISH.

We should not be outsourcing services, nor buying drugs from the US that we can source here in the UK.

PLEDGE: I would never vote for that.