Preet Kaur Gill MP demands Government for a long-term strategy to fix the NHS

Today, Wednesday 11th January, Preet Kaur Gill, MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, has joined calls for the Government to bring forward a long-term strategy that will fix the widespread crisis in the NHS.

The Birmingham MP has joined with Labour colleagues in Parliament to demand an end to delayed hospital discharges, provide the NHS with the necessary staff to treat every patient in good time, and reform primary and community care to reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment.

Calls for a long-term plan comes as public satisfaction with the NHS is currently at a 25 year low of 36 per cent. This is in comparison to the end of Labour’s time in office, when it was at a high of 70 per cent.

Preet Kaur Gill, MP for Birmingham Edgbaston said, “After 13 years of Conservative mismanagement, the NHS is in crisis. Nurses are striking for the first time in their 100-year history, people are finding it impossible to get a GP appointment or an operation when they need one and, in an emergency, there’s no guarantee an ambulance will arrive. Simply put, the longer the Conservatives are in power, the longer patients will wait, often in pain and distress.

“However, we can’t build a healthy economy without a healthy society. That is why I’m proud that your next Labour government will not just rely on sticking plasters, but grasp the root cause of the crisis in the NHS. This will be done by ensuring more doctors, more nurses, shorter waiting times, better care. That’s the difference a Labour government will make.”

Labour’s plan will see 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 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.