My dad was born in July 1948, one of the first NHS babies thanks to the newly created National Health Service, a proud achievement of the Labour government of the day.
Since then he, and every generation since, have been able to enjoy world leading healthcare free at the point of use. Having worked with Save the Children in places where basic healthcare comes at a price, I will never forget seeing children suffer from preventable diseases like cholera that in the UK we’ve consigned to the history books with our brilliant NHS.
But today the NHS faces the worst crisis in its history. Whether it’s waiting for a GP appointment, waiting for an operation or waiting for an ambulance, people are waiting too long and lives are the cost. 24 Hours in A&E used to be a TV show but now it’s the grim reality for too many waiting in pain.
When our family had experience of waiting too long for an ambulance, I collected data on how long people across Hastings and Rye are waiting. The figures I uncovered show the scale of the crisis our local ambulance service is facing. Some of the delays were most acute in the east of our constituency with people in Rye, Winchelsea and other rural parts of Rother waiting too long. For category 2 emergency callouts, which include suspected strokes and heart attacks, NHS guidelines state that patients should wait on average 18 minutes. In March 2022, people in Rother were left waiting for almost an hour on average – 52 minutes for a category 2 emergency callout. Having been at the end of a Facetime call with my dad while he waited for an ambulance, I know how hard that wait would feel.
Since I launched my campaign on local ambulance waits, hundreds of residents have told us their stories. One woman told me her dad in Camber waited over three hours after having a stroke. Her story is not uncommon. One man stopped me in the street to explain how difficult it was working as a local paramedic. It is brilliant paramedics like him as well as our nurses and doctors who are being put in impossible situations unable to deliver the quality of care they are proudly trained to deliver. What an indictment of this government’s record that our nurses and paramedics are forced to go on strike because ministers refused to even get around the negotiating table.
Given the impact this crisis is having on people across Hastings and Rye, I was shocked to see absolutely no mention of our health service in our Conservative MP’s reflection on 2022 published on these pages last week. Her party have long been in denial about the emergency we are in, and simply blame the pandemic. But the evidence is clear. This is a Conservative crisis, not a Covid crisis that has been thirteen years in the making. Between 2010 and 2019 elective waiting lists doubled, before Covid hit. The Conservative’s failure to fix social care means thousands of patients who are medically fit to be discharged remain stranded, leaving hospitals like the Conquest gridlocked. And the Conservatives have failed to train enough nurses and doctors, leaving record staff shortages and increasing staff burnout.
It is Conservative mismanagement that is the problem, and a Labour government will sort it out. We will train a new generation of NHS staff, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status, so the NHS has the workforce it desperately needs. Labour will put patients first and enable them to easily book appointments to see the doctor they want – whether it’s face-to-face, over the phone, or online. We 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 will harness modern technology to diagnose patients earlier and treat them sooner. More doctors, more nurses, shorter waiting times, and better care. That’s the difference a Labour government will make. And don’t just take my word for it, judge us on our record during the last Labour government as detailed by the Financial Times.
As the Labour MP for Hastings and Rye, I will work tirelessly to ensure our corner of East Sussex gets the attention and resources it needs. As Chris Witty’s report revealed, our area has extreme health inequalities. A man born in St Leonards will live on average eleven years less than a man born in Crowborough. Instead of focussing resources where the need is greatest, our local NHS is currently planning to downgrade cardiology services at the Conquest and move services to Eastbourne. As local doctors have pointed out, it’s another example of this government levelling down our health service and we will only stop it with a Member of Parliament who will fight our corner at Westminster. I won’t let you down.
Get in touch with your experiences of the local NHS at www.helenadollimore.com.
