NHS - Safer with Labour

After fourteen years of Conservative mismanagement, people can no longer trust that the NHS will be there for us when we need it, says Labour's candidate for Poole, Neil Duncan-Jordan.

The Conservatives have cut 2,000 GPs, and now patients find it impossible to get an appointment. 

By contrast, Labour will:

• Pay NHS staff extra to deliver 2 million more appointments and operations a year at evenings and weekends.

• Double the number of scanners, so patients with conditions like cancer are diagnosed earlier, giving them the best chance of survival.

• Provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and make sure everyone who needs an NHS dentist can get one.

• Help the NHS to become a Neighbourhood Health Service, with healthcare available on your doorstep and from the comfort of your own home. Labour will bring back the family doctor, so patients can easily book appointments to see the doctor they want, in the manner they choose - face to face, over the phone, or online.

• Prevention is better than cure, so Labour will shift the focus from simply treating sickness to preventing it in the first place. Mental health should be treated as seriously as physical health, so we will recruit an extra 8,500 mental health professionals, paid for by abolishing tax loopholes for the wealthiest.

Neil said: "The last Labour government delivered the shortest waits and highest patient satisfaction in history. We did it before and we can do it again. Labour will give Britain its NHS back."