Future of the NHS

Debate between Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and Liz Kendall

Thursday 23rd February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Liz Kendall]

May I gently say to the hon. Gentleman that I know what is best for his constituents and the people of Wales, which is a Labour Government in Westminster as well as a Labour Government in Wales delivering the changes that we are seeing? If he looks at Labour’s record when we were in government in Westminster, he will see the improvements that were made. May I also gently suggest that he focus on the lack of a workforce plan and the lack of a proper social care plan from his own Government, rather than trying to make these petty points?

Our plan will reform health and care services to speed up treatment by harnessing life sciences and technology to reduce preventable illness, and by cutting health inequalities. As a first step, we will carry out the biggest expansion of the workforce in the history of the NHS, doubling the number of medical school places, creating 10,000 more nursing and midwifery training places, recruiting 5,000 more health visitors, and doubling the number of district nurses. We will pay for this by scrapping the non-dom tax status, because we believe that people who come to live in the UK should pay their fair share of tax here. We read today in The Times that the NHS itself backs Labour’s plan, so why do the Government not back it?

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown]

I listened very carefully to what the leader of the hon. Lady’s party said on the “Today” programme this morning. He said that any proposals he would include in his manifesto for the next general election would be properly costed. Has the hon. Lady properly costed the proposals that she has just outlined, and if so, how much will they cost?

[Liz Kendall]

Yes, we have properly costed these proposals, because we—unlike the hon. Gentleman’s party, which announced huge amounts of borrowing without saying anything about where the money would come from under the former Prime Minister’s plans—will only set out our commitments when we can say where we will get the money from. We will get it by cancelling that non-dom tax status, and I urge the hon. Gentleman to encourage the Chancellor to follow that example in his Budget. I hope that when the Minister responds he will put the House and, more importantly, the public out of our misery. and just adopt Labour’s plan. If he does, he will surely have the backing of the Chancellor, who said only a few months ago that he very much hoped that the Government would adopt our proposals,

“on the basis that smart governments always nick the best ideas of their opponents.”

The truth is that Labour is proposing the solutions to the problems that the country faces because the Conservatives cannot be trusted to fix the mess that they have caused. Instead of introducing the long-term reforms that the country needs, they are constantly lurching from crisis to crisis—always reacting, always behind the curve. Every year there is a winter crisis, with more elderly people ending up stuck in hospital because they cannot get the social care and other local services that they need in the community or at home. Every year, people struggle to get the proper mental health support they need, so they end up reaching crisis point, which is worse for them and more expensive for the taxpayer. Every year, people are left hanging on the phone for hours and hours trying to get a GP appointment until there is no choice but for them to end up in A&E. Every year, there is a sticking plaster and never a cure. In contrast, Labour is calling for a 10-year plan of investment and reform to deal with the root causes of the challenges that we face and to build a care system fit for the future.

We will fix the front door to the NHS in primary care, recruiting more doctors to deliver better access to GPs, ensuring that patients can see the doctor they want in the manner they want—whether that is face to face, over the phone or online. We will fix the exit door out of the NHS and into social care, including by delivering a new deal for care workers so that they get the pay, the training and the terms and conditions that they deserve, which will mean that we can deal with the problem of delayed discharges.

We will recruit 8,500 mental health workers to provide faster treatment and also the support in schools that young people need, which will stop them from getting to crisis point, too. We will enshrine the principle of home first. Ultimately, what we need is a fundamental shift in the focus of care out of hospitals, into the community and more towards prevention. The big challenge that we face is an ageing population, with more people living with one, two, three, four or more long-term conditions. We must get that shift towards prevention. We must enable and support people to take more control over their health and care. We must have one team, with one point of contact, because people do not see their needs in the health or care silos. That is what Labour will deliver. When I first became an MP, I remember seeing in my own constituency people with the telemedicine that they needed to manage long-term conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. I remember visiting Totnes where there was a single, joined-up health and care team. I remember the sexual health and other support services from public health teams that Labour put in place, all of which, in my constituency, have disappeared.

I know from my time working for the last Labour Government that we cannot solve all the problems that the Tories have created overnight, but I also know—and Labour’s record in Government proves this—that with vision, determination and a clear plan, which is drawn up with the staff who provide the services and, crucially, with the users and their families, the NHS and our care system can be transformed. We have done it before. We stand ready to do it again, and Members on the Labour Benches will work day and night to deliver it.