Judith has chaired a debate on a recent dire report showing people are waiting too long for care.
Commissioned almost immediately after Labour’s victory in July, Lord Darzi’s independent investigation into NHS performance showed that people are waiting too long for care throughout all areas of the NHS, contributing to thousands of extra deaths.
The report also attributes the state of the NHS to a number of causes. One is the period of austerity and cuts ushered in by previous governments. It also points to reforms in 2012 as “a calamity without international precedent.”
Outlining Labour’s response to the report in September, the Prime Minister said:
“What we need is the courage to deliver long-term reform – major surgery not sticking plaster solutions. The NHS is at a fork in the road, and we have a choice about how it should meet these rising demands.”
“Raise taxes on working people to meet the ever-higher costs of aging population – or reform to secure its future. We know working people can’t afford to pay more, so it’s reform or die.”
Speaking in the debate, Health Secretary West Streeting said it was ‘reform or die’ for the NHS:
“This month, we will begin formal engagement with NHS staff and patients who will help write the 10-year plan for our NHS, a plan that will deliver the change and modernisation that our health service is crying out for”
Speaking following the debate, Judith said:
“In Bradford, nearly a fifth of all patients end up waiting more than four hours in A&E to be seen in A&E.”
“This report lays bare the crisis that the NHS has been long facing. We need change to create an NHS that is fit for the future.”
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