The Conservatives have spent the last 13 years making our health and social care systems worse. We now see people nationwide unable to get appointments with their GPs and dentists when they need them most. There is also a crisis in mental health, mass food insecurity, poverty, and an incredible shortage of healthcare staff.
I am bringing a motion to North Herts Council to declare a Health Emergency in the district, and I am hopeful that more local authorities will follow because we know we cannot continue like this. We know that health can't be treated as a privilege for the few, while the majority have no route to decent healthcare. We face significant physical and mental health inequalities, which impact women and the LGBTQIA+, Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic communities disproportionately. The Health Inequalities Steering Board (NHS Hertfordshire) commissioned a piece of work setting out improvements needed from 2023, highlighting some of the mental health issues needing the most attention, and the lack of good services available locally to help people.
These health inequalities are exacerbated by the Conservatives' willful inability to support the NHS and work with health and social care staff to find the best outcomes for all. This is bad for the staff, whose working conditions see them on ridiculously long back-to-back shifts that leave them tired, but also places patients' lives at risk. Tired doctors kill. That is the stark truth of it. When healthcare staff are pushed to the brink, there is a danger for patients that cannot be ignored. There is no quick fix for the crisis in healthcare the Conservatives have created. Over the last decade they have devalued our clinicians, forcing many to seek employment abroad, and disincentivised talented young people from pursuing careers in medicine. We need to reset government, show that staff in the NHS are valued and respected, start training more healthcare professionals from care workers to consultants, and we need to start now.
The Conservatives' have let waiting times get longer and longer, with thousands now waiting more than a month for a GP appointment, tens of thousands waiting for procedures and care, and cancer treatment waiting list standards cut to shreds.
My mum is currently going through cancer treatment and would have been hit much harder if these government cuts to standards were made prior to her diagnosis. She was diagnosed quite late and, had she had to wait any longer, she wouldn't be here only 10 months later. We are incredibly lucky that it was caught when it was, but there are so many who haven't and so many will be lost to a completely avoidable fate.
It is about more than just the NHS though. I believe that health must be a consideration in everything that we do. It isn't enough to just support our NHS when we are in government. We must build preventative health interventions into every part of our society and our communities. A person’s opportunity for good health starts before they have the need for healthcare. Therefore, we must fund and empower local authorities to provide the best opportunities for health. Their close position to their communities, as well as their strong local knowledge, gives them the best scope for making health part of everyday lives. This must include their responsibilities for housing and planning, green spaces and leisure, community cohesion and safety, and transport options, among others.
Together, we must protect the NHS and its staff, fund and empower local authorities, and challenge poor health outcomes across the country.