Getting the NHS back on its feet - one step at a time

Eminent surgeon Professor Lord Darzi laid bare the stark, unforgivable reality of the appalling condition our precious National Health Service was left in by the previous government.

The Chancellor saw that only radical surgery – not sticking plasters – could fix our ailing NHS. So last month’s Budget marked an important turning point.

The Budget was always going to be about tough choices and trade-offs. You cannot fix 14 years of poor choices overnight.

But because of those tough choices taken – on tax, spending and welfare – we can now properly invest in our vital NHS, with the largest real-term growth in health spending in 14 years.

That means we can start work to bring down those waiting lists – think the 100,000-plus cases of patients waiting for treatment at the L&D, and wider Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Local people are already feeling the benefits of the Government’s renewed focus.

Working with the local ICB, I am pleased to have secured a commitment from ministers to allow the sale of government-owned land to invest around £2 million in local healthcare provision. Now we need to work collaboratively as the ICB start a conversation on the best way to invest this money, so we can achieve improved health outcomes locally.

But getting the NHS back on its feet is not just an issue of buildings: it’s about the dedicated doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals who work in them. It’s about a greater emphasis on prevention, and getting more services into the community.

We also all need to do our bit. That is why I urge readers to share your ideas to shape the government’s long-term plan to fundamentally reshape how the NHS operates for decades to come at www.change.nhs.uk.

Doing our bit also includes making sure if you’re eligible you take action now to become Winter Ready by getting your free flu and Covid jabs. I recently stopped by at Grovebury Pharmacy to meet pharmacists who are on the front line jabbing local residents.

Nobody pretends that fixing our NHS is easy to achieve. It will require a herculean effort to turn it around, but the Budget has given us the building blocks to begin to get there.