NHS: Long-term Strategy — 11 Jan 2023 at 18:50

That this House condemns the Government for failing to recognise the current crisis in the National Health Service; regrets that, as a result of Government mismanagement, hundreds of lives may be being lost every week due to the collapse of emergency care while patients are finding it impossible to get a GP appointment, ambulance or operation when they need one; calls on the Prime Minister to acknowledge the crisis and act with the necessary urgency to mitigate the impact on patients; and further calls on the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to ensure the NHS is never in this situation again by bringing forward a long-term strategy which will end delayed hospital discharges, provide the NHS with the necessary staff to treat every patient in good time, and reform primary and community care to reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment.

“Had I seen him within a couple of hours it could have been avoided. Maybe.”

“They get CPR on the floor. I am forced to declare his time of death in front of frightened, horrified members of the public and his wife. On the floor of the waiting room. He was elderly and frail and hadn’t wanted to bother us. We had run out of trolleys and beds. In the whole hospital. This was by 10am.”

“What is our long-term plan? We cannot leave the Labour party to have a long-term plan while we do not. How are we going to reform this centrally controlled construct?...What is the Secretary of State’s plan?”-[Official Report, 9 January 2023; Vol. 725, c. 297.]

“I very much hope the government adopts this on the basis that smart governments always nick the best ideas of their opponents.”

“pays tribute to the work done by the National Health Service and recognises that there are pressures on health systems around the world; recognises that all parts of the UK are facing pressures; welcomes that the Government has committed to reduce waiting times in England as part of its strategy to strengthen the NHS and care system with up to £14.1 billion additional funding being made available by government over the next two years to improve urgent and emergency care and tackle the backlog-the highest spend on health and care in any government’s history; and regrets that the Scottish and Welsh governments have refused to make similar such commitments.”

“Even I am shocked with what I have experienced over the last 24 hours.”

“end delayed hospital discharges…and reform primary and community care”.

“No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means.”

“never worked in such an unsafe environment”.

“Staff are literally on their knees, leaving shifts late in tears, and leaving in their droves”.

“naively thought this must be the worst case scenario and thought it was very unlikely to be that long”.

“Everyone-rich or poor, man, woman or child-can use it or any part of it. There are no charges, except for a few special items. There are no insurance qualifications. But it is not a “charity”. You are all paying for it, mainly as tax payers, and it will relieve your money worries in time of illness.”

“Good morning Maria. I email you in a last bid for help. I’ve been sat in Aintree hospital A&E since Friday…with my father who was sent here by his GP. We arrived at 10.30 on Friday with my father, who they think suffered a stroke. They admitted my dad…saying he needs an MRI scan and some other tests. We are still sat in A&E awaiting a bed on hard seats having slept here since Friday…It’s now our 42nd hour sat in A&E. I am at my wits’ end trying to get help. A doctor on Friday evening prescribed high blood pressure medication for my father. He has only received one dose.

I beg for your help. I don’t want to lose my dad due to poor hospital care”.

“The need to utilise the waiting room and X-ray waiting area chairs to house patients awaiting admission is completely unacceptable.”

“embarrassed, ashamed and demoralised by the standard of care”

“cost a fortune and stem from a failure of understanding and an out-of-date view”.

“Dear Sir,

I recently had occasion to consult my doctor over an ongoing medical condition. The GP who examined me was courteous, clear and informative and referred me to Doncaster Royal Infirmary. I expected a long wait to be seen, but within a week I was asked to visit DRI. Again, expecting a long wait, I was surprised to be attended to by the consultant straight away. He was good humoured, explanatory and took the time to explain the condition. The following week, I received the results of the examination I had undergone.

At a time when the news is dominated by the failings of the NHS, I have to state that I found my treatment of the very best and my GP, the consultant and the staff at DRI deserve the greatest praise for their outstanding work.

I do hope that you will convey my appreciation to those concerned.”

“Demand for hospital treatment was outstripping capacity even before the pandemic. In recent years, patients have been waiting longer for emergency, routine and cancer treatment.”

“We visited a seriously ill man who was frightened of being taken to hospital and made it clear he was at risk of death and that he needed urgent treatment. He and his wife told us that when he was in last, he was left on a corridor for hours, he was not offered food, he is diabetic and could have died.”

“I found it heart breaking that this man would rather die than put himself in that situation again as he could not face the way he had been treated.”

“Dear Parent/Guardian, due to unprecedented numbers of calls, we are unable to provide a call back at this time, and your case has been closed.”

“judge us on the effort we put in and the results we achieve.”

“the most civilised step any country has ever taken”.

“This crisis has been a decade or more in the making and we are now paying the high price for years of inaction and managed decline.”

“only team on the field”.

Debate in Parliament |