By Andrew Gwynne MP
SOME OF you may know that as well as the Member of Parliament for Denton and Reddish, I also serve as Labour’s Shadow Public Health Minister within the Health and Social Care Team.
It’s a pretty wide-ranging role and means I think a lot about how we can improve the NHS, as well as patient experience within it.
One of the most interesting parts of the role is speaking to brilliant clinicians, experts and charity representatives about the key challenges facing our NHS.
At the moment, when you switch on the news, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the crisis in our health system.
Here in Tameside, waiting times are at historic highs, patients with acute problems are waiting longer than ever for ambulances and it’s really hard to see a GP when you desperately need one.
But it’s important to say that, with the right management and requisite attention, the NHS can be a vehicle for transformative change.
At a local level, we in Tameside have a proud history of breaking the mould and using the NHS in a really innovative way. The Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care Trust has made some brilliant strides in delivering community-based care.
Often, health can be thought of as what happens in A&E or in operating rooms, but we should also think about how to prevent people from getting seriously sick in the first place.
This is the role of community integrated care – by getting out into the local area and improving health through pharmacies, community hubs, and social care partners, the Trust has improved health outcomes without patients ending up in A&E or having to call an ambulance.
I desperately want to see more work like this on a national scale.
Of course, this has to come alongside investment, which is why I’m proud to back Labour’s plan for a huge expansion of the NHS workforce – paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status – to get more doctors, nurses and care professionals in our local area.
The NHS is an incredible asset, and worth saving.
Just 13 years ago, it had the highest patient satisfaction since records began, the lowest waiting times, and was one of the leading health systems in the world.
I want to see us get back to that and build an NHS that delivers for people right across Tameside.