NHS reforms cannot happen 'on the cheap' county MP tells government

The government is set to unveil a new ten-year plan to reform the NHS next spring, following the publication of the “Darzi report” into the state of the nation’s health service.

Addressing the House of Commons yesterday during a debate on the future of the health service, the newly-appointed Liberal Democrat health spokesperson highlighted delays in cancer treatment referrals in Shropshire as evidence of the “enormous challenges” that need to be resolved in the NHS.

“Over the past year, more than 100,000 people have waited more than two months to start cancer treatment after an urgent referral,” she said.

“In my constituency of North Shropshire, almost 20 per cent of urgent referrals took more than 43 days and 10 per cent took more than 62 days. The target is 28 days. It is truly heartbreaking. We know that every day counts when patients are battling cancer.

“We all owe so much to the NHS and the incredible hard-working staff who have kept it going under the most intense pressure imaginable. Despite their heroic efforts, there is no doubt that we have a major crisis in the NHS.

“The message that the British people sent at the general election in July was clear: fixing the health and care crisis must be this Government’s number one priority.”

The incoming Labour Government commissioned a report by peer and surgeon Lord Darzi into the state of the NHS it inherited from the previous administration, commonly known as the Darzi report.

In his report, Lord Darzi recommends greater focus on prevention, expanding community services and using technology to “unclock productivity” in hospitals.

Lord Darzi said the NHS was in “serious trouble”, with accident and emergency departments in an “awful state” and patients facing long waiting times to see their doctor.

“In Shropshire, which is not an outlier, the Royal College of General Practitioners found that the average GP is seeing 475 more patients than they were in 2016,” added Ms Morgan.

“This moment demands the same urgency, ambition and vision that drove the creation of the NHS all those years ago. We very much hope that the Government will show that ambition.”

Earlier in the debate, Secretary of State for Health Wes Streeting told the chamber that he would defend the principle of the NHS being free at the point of use, but added that the health service stood at a “fork in the road”.

“We all need to face up to the challenges of today. Our society is getting older and living longer but becoming sicker sooner. Those rising tides of demands and costs are combining to form a perfect storm that threatens to shipwreck the NHS,” he said.

“Rebuilding the NHS will not be easy and it will take time, but we have done it before and we will do it again.”