Naz Shah: Short-term cuts have plunged the NHS into crisis

We have seen the pressure in A&E departments building over the past six years and yet every year we reach a “winter crisis” that is somehow a surprise to the Government. We have seen an increase in A&E waiting times, with more than 1.8 million people waiting more than four hours in 2015-16 – an increase of over 400 per cent since 2010.

Bed-blocking is increasing as our underfunded social care services struggle to deal with demand. We have seen an increase in the number of patients waiting on trolleys to be treated or admitted, and an increase in the number of hospitals running out of beds. We are also about to see a 12 per cent cut to community pharmacies, which will lead to the closure or reduction in services of our local pharmacies. The time it takes to get a GP appointment is also increasing.

This is not the most complex of problems. If we want a proper, functioning, full person-centred care system that works with compassion and treats those in need professionally and efficiently, this Government must fund it.

Let me turn now to pharmacies. This Government fail to grasp the fact that cuts to one service will have a direct impact on another. Let me be clear: only two months ago, I condemned the proposed 12 per cent cut to community pharmacies, which could mean the closure of 25 per cent of the 42 pharmacies in my Bradford West constituency. That highlights the short-sighted approach taken by this Government. They are attacking all forms of primary healthcare and front-line services on which people rely.

If the figures are correct, nearly 30 per cent of people who attended A&E services in Bradford Royal Infirmary over the past month could have been treated elsewhere for minor ailments. Many of them could go to their local pharmacy, through our local ailments scheme, or see their GP.

What is the Government’s long-term approach ​to these systemic issues if it continues to water down primary care services? All we will see is an increase in the number of visitors unnecessarily attending A&E and an increase in the problems faced by those needing access to services.

The impact of the reduction in GP services is the same. Only a few months ago, I campaigned with the local community to save Manningham health practice. That was temporarily put on hold, although we still have fears. Thankfully, we managed to prevent that centre from being closed down in the short term. However, I know that others in my constituency are at risk. Many other MPs have GP surgeries in their constituencies that face uncertain futures due to the funding restraints.

This paints a picture not only of the underfunding of primary care services, but of a strategy that simply does not work together. Even a simple understanding of healthcare provision would allow us to see that if we decrease NHS services in one sector, there is an impact on the rest of it and an increased pressure on other service providers. Where is the long-term planning that will ensure that people get access to the care that they deserve and are entitled to?

The Government’s strategy is the same when it comes to local government social care funding. The cuts to local social care funding have been dramatic. Nearly £4.6bn has been taken out of the social care sector since 2010, mainly through local government funding cuts. My district of Bradford has just had to announce that it will need to find another £8m in savings from its social care budget. The authority is trying to be innovative and trying to find ways to ensure that there is no effect on frontline care by
putting its resources into prevention.

For me, the Government still fail to recognise the impact of deprivation on care needs. In one of the four most deprived constituencies, health issues go hand in hand with deprivation. The cuts to local government funding make that even more evident. It is not the work of our exceptional healthcare staff that has caused this crisis. It is the reduction in funding and the short-term strategy of this Government that are responsible. It is time for them to wake up and provide the healthcare provision people deserve.

Naz Shah is the Labour MP for Bradford West who spoke in a Commons debate on the NHS. This is an edited version.