Over the past year, we have witnessed our NHS battle the worst public health crisis in living memory. As we look back on the pandemic, it is clear that we could—and should—have been better prepared.
The situation we find ourselves in was not inevitable. A decade of cuts and underfunding has put year-round strain on NHS services and undermined our resilience in a crisis. Over 15,000 beds have been cut since 2010 and hospitals are crumbling, with the repair bill running at £9bn. At the point the virus struck, there was a shortage of 40,000 nurses, so our hospitals faced the crisis without enough staff. Those that were there were left unprotected: the government’s woefully inadequate supply of PPE wouldn’t last them two weeks. And over 10 years, Conservative neglect had progressively weakened the foundations of public health. Failure to invest in this critical service left the country without the testing capacity to monitor community transmission early on, which would have given us a fighting chance to contain the virus.
Against this backdrop the nation was left exposed and vulnerable as cases began to rise. Community services were forced to rely on acute hospitals, which were placed under enormous pressure. To cope, the government converted the NHS to a “Covid treatment service” and millions of operations were cancelled. We should never have had to choose between Covid and other critical care.
Chronic under-resourcing in social care led to devastation, distress and 30,000 unnecessary deaths. Last March those cuts to hospital beds wreaked havoc, as Covid-positive patients were discharged from hospital into care homes to free up capacity for other infected people.
We have lost 127,000 of our loved ones in this pandemic, one of the worst death rates in Europe. I stand with their bereaved families, and am calling for a public inquiry.
The government’s Covid decisions will impact on services far into the future. As we emerge from lockdown, many of us are left worried and waiting. At a time when we urgently need healthcare to tackle the consequences of lockdown, 366,000 people now face a 12-month wait for elective surgery. During the pandemic, a backlog of around 400,000 urgent suspected cancer referrals has built up, and 50 per cent fewer patients began cancer treatment following screening. While social isolation has taken a heavy toll on wellbeing, one in four people will have to wait over three months for mental health services. And an exhausted and traumatised workforce is facing a real-terms pay cut. Ministers are treating NHS heroes with contempt.
“A decade of cuts and underfunding has put year-round stress on NHS services”
Although vaccination will help us escape the virus, another difficult winter for the NHS looms large in its shadow. To face the struggle ahead, the NHS needs a new deal. Labour would take immediate action to address the treatment backlog and give our doctors and nurses the fair pay rise they so deserve.
We know the chance of another pandemic occurring in the future is high. Labour would ensure we are fully prepared by supporting our health service with the investment it needs. We would rebuild public health services and implement a government-wide “health in all policies” approach to narrow the health inequalities that the virus has worsened.
Building resilience for the future will ensure our NHS can deliver the best care for all—now and in the years to come—and make the UK the best place to live, grow up and grow old in.
