Labour will once again deliver shorter waiting times for NHS patients - Anna Dixon

Under the previous Conservative leadership, waiting lists skyrocketed to a record 7.7 million in September 2023, and patients had never been more dissatisfied with the service they received. Waiting times are not just statistics; they reflect the experiences of real individuals whose lives have been disrupted. NHS backlogs lead to late diagnoses, resulting in worse health outcomes, which makes people sicker and increases taxpayer costs.

Additionally, these delays leave people suffering and prevent individuals from working, limiting their potential and negatively impacting our economy. A healthier, more efficient workforce is also essential for achieving the government's key aim of economic growth, which makes it even more crucial to address and resolve these delays promptly.

Last summer, I visited Grange Park Surgery, a local GP practice in my constituency, alongside the then Shadow Health Secretary, Wes Streeting. During this visit, we discussed the urgent need to modernise and reform the NHS, ensure we are able to learn from and spread best practices, and make sure our health service effectively serves patients once again.

Since my election in July, I have also met with leaders from Bradford District Care NHS Trust, Airedale General Hospital, and the Bradford Royal Infirmary. Through these meetings, I have gained insight into various innovations and new approaches. Additionally, I organised a valuable roundtable discussion attended by local healthcare staff, care workers and professionals to contribute to the NHS 10-Year Plan.

After more than a decade of unmet promises from a seemingly endless stream of Tory Health Secretaries, it was refreshing to hear the Prime Minister on Monday outline the government’s plan to address the very priorities I discussed with Wes in June. Planned improvements include upgrading the NHS App to allow patients to book and rearrange appointments easily, rewarding trusts that reduce waiting times the quickest with additional funding, enabling GPs to refer patients directly for tests and scans (eliminating unnecessary specialist appointments), paying GPs to keep patients out of hospital and treating them in the community and providing patients with the choice of whether they want a routine follow-up appointment, ultimately freeing up one million appointments each year.

While we all cherish the NHS for what it has provided since its founding - care for everyone who needs it regardless of income - we cannot stand still. This is about reforming it to make it more effective and efficient. Our goal is to bring more care into the community and improve patient outcomes.

Getting the NHS back on track will be challenging and will not happen overnight. The last Labour government delivered the shortest waiting times and highest patient satisfaction in the history of the NHS. We did it before, and earlier this week the Prime Minister launched the plan to do it again.

Anna Dixon is the Labour MP for Shipley.