City's health services 'on their knees' says MP candidate

THE Lib Dems are calling for an emergency budget after the general election to boost health services - including those in Worcester.

Mel Allcott, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the city in Thursday’s general election, says health services in Worcester are “on their knees.”

She said the party’s manifesto includes plans to hire 8,000 new GPs, give patients the legal right to start cancer treatment within 62 days of urgent referral and increase the number of staffed hospital beds.

The Lib Dems also plan to spend an extra £9bn on the NHS and social care should they get into power.

They say this would be funded by closing loopholes in capital gains tax and by reversing tax cuts for big banks.

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Mel Allcott said “Local health services are on their knees.

"A staggering number of people I talk to on the doorstep have their own stories of not being able to get a GP appointment, register with an NHS dentist, or having been forced to wait for hours in A&E.

“Worcestershire Royal Hospital was built too small and losing the Farrier Street surgery has only  made things worse.

“On a regular basis I meet residents who cannot get an appointment with an NHS dentist.

“On many levels there is much to be done for a healthy Worcester.

“Ending the crisis in our NHS has to be the top priority of any government after the election.

“We must rescue our local health services which have been pushed to the brink by the Conservative party.

“An emergency budget right after the election is the only way we can start to repair the damage done to our communities' health services. People in Worcester should not have to wait for a moment longer to get the care they deserve.”

The Conservative manifesto pledges to increase NHS spending above inflation every year, recruiting 92,000 more nurses and 28,000 more doctors.

Labour promises to cut NHS waiting times by introducing 40,000 more appointments every week. Its manifesto also talks of 8,500 additional mental health staff and the “return of the family doctor”.

The Green Party says its MPs will push for guaranteed access to an NHS dentist, rapid access to a GP and same-day access in case of urgent need.

We have asked Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Worcestershire Royal Hospital, for comment.