According to the Labour Party website the Labour Party have achieved the following in their time in power:
Why Labour?
The NHS is the Labour Party’s greatest achievement. We created it, we saved it, we value it and we will always support it. Since 1997, Labour’s investment and reform have delivered real improvements for patients after 18 years of Tory neglect and underinvestment. Today, the NHS has more services and more staff, delivering faster and better quality treatment. Now we are bringing healthcare closer to communities and giving patients more power and control, making sure the NHS is there for you when and where you need it.
Key achievements:
* Waiting lists are down by nearly 600,000 since 1997. The average wait for inpatient treatment is down to just 4 weeks, and thanks to Labour’s tough targets, nobody now has to wait more than 18 weeks for treatment.
* Over 99 per cent of suspected cancer patients are seen by a specialist within two weeks of being referred by their GP, and over 99 per cent of cancer patients start their treatment within a month of diagnosis.
* Over 97 per cent of waits in A&E are of four hours or less.
* Over 40,000 more doctors and over 83,000 more nurses since Labour came to power.
* Investment in the NHS has nearly trebled since 1997.
* Labour has opened over 100 new hospital schemes since 1997 to replace ageing and unsuitable infrastructure – two years ahead of schedule.
* In 1997, half the NHS estate dated from before 1948. Today that figure is down to 20 per cent. And by the end of 2010 we will have exceeded our original target by at least 25 more schemes.
* Labour has built over 90 new NHS walk-in centres and over 650 one-stop primary care centres, and we are investing £750 million in a new generation of modern, convenient community hospitals.
* Cancer mortality rates in under-75s have decreased by 18.2 per cent since 1996, saving nearly 9,000 lives in 2007 alone compared to 1996. The NHS saved nearly 33,000 lives from cardiovascular diseases in 2007 compared to 1996.
* Since April 2008 all patients have been able to choose from any hospital provider in England that meets NHS standards and costs, giving patients more control and helping to drive up standards.
* All hospitals have been deep cleaned, and the number of matrons, to keep them clean and enforce hospital cleanliness, has been brought up to 5,000. By March 2009 every non-emergency patient will be screened for MRSA. The NHS has cut MRSA by 62 per cent and C. difficile by 35 per cent.
New Labour, your Britain:
* Labour is making it easier for you to see your doctor at a time convenient to you and your family. Thanks to Labour’s new deal with doctors, over three quarters of GP practices are open for at least one evening or weekend surgery a week – compared with just 12 per cent in April 2008.
* Labour is opening at least 100 new GP practices in the areas which need them most, along with 152 new GP-led health centres to be open 8am-8pm, seven days a week.
* All prescriptions are now free for people being treated with cancer, benefiting up to 150,000 people with cancer who might otherwise pay £100 a year in prescription charges.
* Labour has published the first ever NHS Constitution to form the basis of a new relationship between staff and patients – a relationship based on partnership, feedback, respect and shared commitment where everyone knows what they can expect from the NHS and what is expected from them.
* Labour is working to eliminate mixed sex accommodation in hospitals, with a £100 million ring-fenced Privacy and Dignity Fund to help Trusts make swift adjustments to hospital accommodation. From next year there will be financial penalties for hospitals that treat patients in mixed sex accommodation without justification.
* We are rolling out a national programme of vascular checks for everyone aged between 40 and 74, to prevent at least 9,500 heart attacks and strokes every year and save 2,000 lives.
* By the end of 2010, we will have extended the ages at which adults are screened so that an additional 500,000 women will be screened for breast cancer and 2 million men and women will be screened for bowel cancer.
* By 2011, 3,600 more new psychological therapists will have treated 900,000 more people with depression and anxiety, improving their quality of life and reducing the numbers on sick pay and benefits.
Labour Party NHS Policy :http://www.labour.org.uk/health
I would be interested to hear both positive and negative views on Labour’s NHS policies in the comments below?
I think labour has done a good job with the NHS and has brought the NHS a long way after the conservatives and I also think the conservatives are now using labours political techniques such as making the NHS their main priority to win votes. However I don’t think the NHS should be the main priority it should be sustaining a growing economy and focusing on the business’s and working class to do this.
My only issue with the NHS is doctors are failing to make a quick diagnosis and waste time by giving out pain killers. My suggestion is if a doctor can’t make a diagnosis then they should refer the patient to another doctor or a hospital. If a patient came with an agonising headache no one thinks about doing a Cat scan of the brain to check for tumors the first thing doctors do is dish out pain killers. Meaning they try saving money on the NHS and risk peoples lives by not treating them quick enough.
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