A father taking his children to accident and emergency rather than waiting for a general practitioner appointment is so commonplace it hardly merits attention, but when the father in question is the secretary of state for health one wonders how much deeper the crisis in the National Health Service will need to be before Jeremy Hunt will act in patients’ interests?
By taking his children to A&E over the weekend, Jeremy Hunt did what most parents choose to do when they are worried about their children and they can not see their GP, irrespective of the official advice. The length of time that people are waiting for a GP appointment has risen sharply in recent years under the coalition. The Royal College of GPs recently described the situation as a ‘national disgrace’ that is putting patients at risk.
I recently sent out a survey to residents across Ilford North asking them about their experiences of primary care. A striking number of returns have remarked on the worsening service, though they still continue to hold their local GP in high regard and affection. Worryingly for community cohesion, many returns attribute the worsening service to immigration, rather than government failure. Recruitment challenges, operating hours and government waste on the top-down reorganisation of the NHS are placing huge pressures on general practice that the government should be addressing.
As Andy Burnham said in the House of Commons, a consequence of the primary care crisis has been additional pressure on accident and emergency departments. In Redbridge, we are due to lose our A&E department at King George Hospital within the next five years, or ‘as soon as it is clinically safe to do so’, according to Mr Hunt. Not only does this fly in the face of promises made by David Cameron and local member of parliament, Lee Scott, before the last election, it also raises the question of how services will be able to cope.
I welcome the funding we have been given in Redbridge, through the prime minister’s Challenge initiative, to improve access to primary care. As cabinet member for health, I will be working closely with the local clinical commissioning group to address concerns raised by residents about the inconsistent performance of primary care services in Redbridge. Labour’s pledge to reinstate our 48-hour guarantee for GP appointments is proving to be a hit with residents. We did it before and we will do it again.
People do not want to see the NHS used as a political football, but it is right that Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham have been taking this government to task for its handling of the NHS. An ageing population, combined with medical advances, is placing unprecedented demand on NHS services. We need investment and reform over the next decade to make the NHS fit for the 21st century. Only Labour can be trusted to deliver.
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Wes Streeting is deputy leader and cabinet member for health and wellbeing in the London borough of Redbridge and Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Ilford North
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