Local News
"Even government ministers admit the NHS is facing a crisis" Says Local MP Tom
Local Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop today urged Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Chancellor George Osborne to listen to the advice of other ministers and increase NHS spending to avoid a crisis.
Lib Dem Health Minister Norman Lamb has said “The NHS could crash...If we don't get the additional resource, then you would see increasing numbers of trusts getting into financial difficulty, you would see growing numbers of people waiting longer for access to treatment, and longer waiting lists to get to see your GP.”
His comments came following the news that South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust faces cuts of £91m between now and 2017.
Tom said: “You can’t trust a word the Lib Dems say. If the NHS is facing a crash then it is as a result of their and the Tories’ policies. This is just pre-election posturing from the Lib Dem Health Minister – who I must add has supported everything that is happening to our NHS.
“South Tees NHS are in an extremely difficult position financially, this has been plainly clear through various health centre closures; delays in A&E and various other consultations taking place. Now they have identified that they may have to cut staff to balance the books – staff that and already overstretched NHS depends on. This is the record of this Government: an NHS going backwards under the Tories, made possible thanks to the support and the votes of the Lib Dems. Rather than bickering amongst themselves the Lib Dems and Tories should be focussing on fixing the mess they’ve made of the NHS.
“Only Labour will rescue the NHS with an extra £2.5 billion a year on top of Tory spending plans which will fund new staff including 20,000 more nurses – investment the Tories and the Lib Dems will not match.”
However Josh Mason, Prospective Lib Dem MP for the Redcar Constituency dismissed Tom Blenkinsop's remarks when contacted by Zetland FM. Josh commented:
“Since 2010 there are around 13,500 more clinical staff in the NHS, including around 6,500 more doctors and 3,700 more nurses.
“Labour running the NHS was a story of thousands of extra unnecessary managers, inflated doctor contracts and botched privatisation. For example their private Independent Treatment Centres were paid 25% more than NHS facilities for operations sometimes when they hadn't even performed them. Labour still run the NHS in Wales where the position is chaos, cuts and missed targets.
“Protecting NHS jobs on the frontline is a top priority for Lib Dems in government. Lib Dems are committed to providing an extra £1 billion of real term funding for the NHS in the years 2016/17 and 2017/18 too.”
