Labour unveils plans to tackle £22Bn funding gap in the NHS - When can we expect to see improvements in the service? - video Dailymotion

National World - LocalTV

Chancellor Rachel Reeves outlines Labour’s intention to ‘rebuild the NHS’ with a combination of targeted funding and structural changes. Reeves highlighted that priorities include more support for front line services and reducing waiting backlogs.

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00:00Well, any surveys that are done on the NHS demonstrate that the British people see it

00:05as something which is very close to their heart, because of course, let's face it,

00:10at some point in our lives, and hopefully not very often, we have to use the NHS in

00:15some form. We're an ageing population, so of course the demands on the NHS are increasing.

00:21If I may add, when the NHS was first conceived, 70-odd years ago, it was seen as something

00:26that would be treated from the cradle to the grave. Prior to that, as anyone who's

00:30seen series or any sort of dramatisation, you were on your own. And indeed, there are

00:35many countries where you are effectively on your own unless you can afford insurance.

00:38So it's a great service, really expensive. Now, of course, the fact is, though, we want

00:43it to perform better, because of course, nobody likes the long-waiting list that we've got

00:49for operations.

00:50While the NHS currently faces unprecedented demand, with GP practices delivering a record

00:56367 million appointments, that's 53 million more than before the pandemic. This surge

01:03includes a 20% increase in calls to NHS 111 and rising pressures on mental health services

01:11due to climbing referrals. These challenges underscore the need for the NHS to effectively

01:17adapt and manage demands to ensure timely patient care.

01:22The difficulty is that when faced with the prospect of having to pay more money for it,

01:27and indeed, that's what the budget was about, taking some more money from the forms that

01:32we saw in Rachel Reeves announced, and then dedicating this to improving the health service.

01:39The fact is, we probably won't see an instant improvement. It'll take quite a while. Things

01:44like the NHS, which people want to improve, but as I say, when it comes to paying for

01:48it, that's a whole different matter. Unfortunately, we live in a system where we want a European

01:55health system, but we want to pay American level taxes, and of course, something has

01:58got to give.

Labour unveils plans to tackle £22Bn funding gap in the NHS - When can we expect to see improvements in the service?

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