10th July- Jack Abbott Welcomes Labour’s 10 Year Plan to Rebuild the NHS

I do not need to tell you the state our NHS had been left in after years of failure and broken promises by the previous Conservative government.

Not only did they break records for all the wrong reasons, you all had to live with an wider health care system that, despite the best efforts of our heroic healthcare workers, was on its knees.

It was with this in mind that our Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, launched Labour’s 10 Year Health Plan yesterday morning.

As we have repeatedly said since taking office, though the NHS might have been broken after years of negligence by the previous Conservative government, we knew it was not beaten.

However, such is the breadth and depth of the crisis facing one of our country’s most beloved institutions, we also knew our solutions could not simply tinker around the edges or act as a sticking plaster. Our antidote had to be long-lasting and all-encompassing. This Plan provides that pathway with key three shifts in how we operate our NHS.

Firstly, the review outlines that care should be shifted out of hospitals, and into the community, so millions of people can be treated closer to home. The steps taken by our Government will mean that neighbourhood health services are rolled out across the country, bringing crucial services such as mental health, rehab, nursing and diagnostics right to your doorstep.

Neighbourhood health centres will house key services under one roof, opening at weekends and in weekday evenings, to help cut waiting lists, and provide better and more efficient care.

Secondly, that our NHS must transition from the analogue to the digital age; in admin, in diagnostics, in community care, and so much more to make it more effective, more patient-friendly and provide the taxpayer with better value for money.

And, thirdly, the NHS has to shift from a sickness service to a prevention service. That is inextricably tied up with community care, which will help us get seen and treated earlier.

However, whilst this Review has its eyes set firmly on the future, it is also worth looking back at the progress we have made, locally and nationally, on rebuilding our NHS over the past year.

The Chancellor has delivered a multi-billion-pound boost to our NHS, and I have been unashamedly fighting for our fair share of that funding for Ipswich and Suffolk.

Our local hospices, EACH and St Elizabeth Hospice, received nearly half a million pounds. Brick and mortar upgrades for five Ipswich GP services, and our local hospital trust. 15,500 extra dental appointments to help put an end to Suffolk’s ‘dental desert’. A new radiotherapy machine for local cancer patients.

Local patients are benefitting from Labour’s national efforts, too. Though we inherited waiting lists of nearly eight million, they have since fallen six months in a row. Before the General Election, we pledged to deliver two million more appointments within our first year of government - and we have delivered four million.

The Conservatives broke our NHS, and Nigel Farage’s Reform want to sell it off, but these achievements are what a Labour MP, working hand-in-hand with a Labour government, can deliver for Ipswich.

However, I know that although we have made good progress, we still have a lot of hard work ahead to ensure that, when people use the NHS, they are looked after quickly, safely, and in comfort. The scale of the challenge was certainly made clear to me at my latest public town hall, where residents described their lived experiences of our health care system.

That is why we are not just easing the crisis that faces our NHS today, we are making it fit for the future too. That is what our 10 Year Plan will do.