1 week Ago
Both of my parents worked for many years in our local NHS. My father served as a paramedic and my mother worked at Bolton Hospital. So I’m absolutely committed to ensuring that the health service can provide the very best treatment to people across Bolton.
That’s why, when I stood for election last year, I promised to fight for better access to the NHS, for shorter waiting times and more preventative treatment. So I’m pleased that the Labour government is taking steps to ensure this promise is fulfilled. The new government has adopted prioritised hospitals like Bolton not only in order to improve health outcomes, but also to help get people back into work .
Across the country, the number of people unable to work due to long term sickness is at its highest since the 1990s. Indeed, the number of adults who are economically inactive due to ill-health rose from 2.1million in July 2019 to a peak of 2.
9million in October 2023. That’s why crack teams of leading clinicians are introducing more productive ways of working to deliver more procedures, including running operating theatres like Formula One Pit stops to cut down on wasted time between operations. And, last week, I received the welcome news that the number of NHS patients on waiting lists in Bolton fell by 2,447 between October 2024 and January 2025.
Labour is determined to get value for money for taxpayers when it comes to welfare and the NHS. Of course, waiting times are still too high. But, as a former NHS worker myself, I’m confident the government continues to make significant progress in ensuring my constituents can access the treatment they deserve in a timely fashion.
Elsewhere, the bureaucratic burden on our GPs has historically been allowed to spiral out of control. So I welcome the new contract agreed between GPs and the government. That will reduce the amount of red tape GPs need to deal with, allowing doctors to focus on patients, not form filling.
And the additional £889 million for general practice secured at the end of last year will support the return of the family doctor. Already, the government has met its target to create an extra two million NHS appointments – a goal achieved seven months early. Following that, the recent announcement scrapping NHS England, will allow the government go even further and faster in ensuring resources are freed-up for frontline services.
Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is steadfast in his resolve to improve the NHS. And I know that the government’s mission to boost NHS productivity and deliver fundamental reform will see real improvements in patient outcomes over the coming months, helping all of us to live more productive and fulfilling lives..
