The Conservative Government has already delivered a new community Diagnostic Centre at Eltham Community Hospital. This is providing a one-stop shop where patients can get lifesaving checks and the Government is going further with new investment to increase bed capacity at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) and Queen Elizabeth Hospital. I want to improve the experience of all local residents who need to use our NHS.
My partner works in the NHS so I understand that there are substantial issues facing the service which need to be addressed for the residents of Eltham and Chislehurst to have access to the healthcare they need.
I agree with the Prime Minister that one of this Government's priorities has to be dealing with the backlogs in the NHS, in particular eliminating all waits of over 52 weeks which have increased since the Covid lockdowns. I want to work with local GPs to ensure that all Eltham and Chislehurst residents should be able to see their doctor promptly, within two weeks as a reasonable starting point but ideally earlier if possible.
The Conservative Record
Conservatives have increased the NHS budget in real terms since being elected: According to the Nuffield Trust there has been a steady increase in spending on the NHS in England since the Conservatives were elected in 2010. A graph included in a recent report shows this clearly:
The King’s Fund makes the same point with the statement “Looking more recently, since the Conservative Party has been in power (2015/16), spending has increased by 2.8 per cent a year on average in real terms.”
In Eltham and Chislehurst, we have seen the benefit of the increased spending in improved infrastructure, with the Eltham Community Hospital opening in 2015. Many would say that it has taken time to figure out how to make best use of the Community Hospital with some initial confusion over the use of an operating theatre but the recent investment from the Government to create a Clinical Diagnostic Centre (CDC) in Eltham has been widely welcomed, being described by SENine magazine as ‘a beacon of hope’. According to SENine, the CDC will deliver MRI, CT & ultrasound, ECG equipment for heart patients, blood testing and cardio-vascular & lung function monitoring which will all support steps to improve preventative medicine provision for Eltham and Chislehurst residents.
There was even more good news on this front in October 2023 when it was announced that Eltham and Chislehurst residents would benefit from a second Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC) at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. Once open, the CDC will provide more than 58,000 additional diagnostic tests annually, by expanding phlebotomy (blood tests) and establishing new CT, MRI and X-ray diagnostic services.
In addition, in August the Government announced the PRUH in Orpington would receive an extra £4m to upgrade emergency care which will include 16 new high dependency beds.
However, it is fair to say workforce planning represents a challenge as since 2017 the number of GPs working full-time hours or more in GP practice-based settings has been steadily decreasing. Nationally, this means fewer doctors are looking after a greater numbers of patients. This increase in the number of patients per GP practice has been seen locally with a recent planning meeting revealing the patient list for the Eltham Medical Practice had increased from 11,000 in 2011 to 24,778 in March 2022. The Government has recognised this problem and increased the number of places for trainee doctors but this is clearly a long-term project which needs more investment if we are serious about increasing the number of GPs and other doctors in the UK.
What will Labour do on the NHS?
With a Welsh Labour Government in Wales, and with health a devolved issue, it is possible to see how the Labour Party would run the NHS and compare this with the record of the Conservative Government in England
The key points to draw from the performance of the Welsh Government are:-
· Waiting times are longer in NHS Wales: Almost a quarter of Wales’ population is on an NHS waiting list, with Welsh patients having to wait longer in A&E than English patient and the average wait for referral to treatment being much longer in Wales than England.
· Welsh Labour has channelled money away from the NHS to other areas: The Welsh Government was allocated 15% more money per capita to spend on the NHS than in England (2019-20) but only chose to spend 5% more per person. According to the Nuffield Trust this smaller gap in spending is because “the Welsh government has prioritised health care slightly less aggressively and spends more on other services”.
The Nuffield Trust concludes that in Labour governed Wales “it is clear that patients in Wales generally wait longer for care than their English counterparts”. At the same time as this dire record was being achieved, Keir Starmer stated the Welsh Government provides a “blueprint for what Labour can do across the UK”.
So, residents in Eltham and Chislehurst know what to expect from a Labour Government in Westminster – longer waiting times and lower spending on the NHS than has been the case in England under the current Conservative Government.
Where the Labour Party nationally has promised to “hold the door wide open” to the NHS for the private sector if they win the General Election, Eltham’s current MP is much more opposed to private sector involvement in the NHS in principle, repeatedly stating that profit and improving the NHS do not go together.
My promise as your MP
As the MP for Eltham and Chislehurst, I promise to work to ensure that you have access to healthcare as and when you need it.
We can see what a Starmer Government would look to do by looking at the example set by the Welsh Government: longer waiting times, money being diverted to other areas and a failure to build upon the Conservative Government’s track record of improving services and health infrastructure in South East London.
If I am elected, I promise to campaign to ensure that there are more GP practices in Eltham and Chislehurst in the future. This is a long-term pledge to increase the number of doctors and nurses in training but also to work with the relevant NHS partners to ensure that GP services increase to address the changing needs of our local communities.
