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Wes Streeting, the shadow health and social care secretary, has announced the Labour party’s plan to tackle the crisis facing the NHS.
In a speech at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, Mr Streeting said Labour would double the number of medical training places and create an extra 10,000 nursing and midwifery clinical placements every year.
He said Labour would recruit more doctors and commit to delivering better pay, terms and conditions for care workers. In doing so, the party hopes to reduce the 400,000 delayed discharges every month and provide better quality care for older and disabled people.
In primary care, Mr Streeting said Labour would require GPs in England to provide face-to-face appointments to anyone who wants one, and give greater power to patients, enabling them to self-refer to specialist services where appropriate.
If Labour were to win power, it would agree “a 10-year plan with the NHS to shift the focus of healthcare out of the hospital and into the community,” he said.
A focus on social care
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has welcomed the party’s pledge for more doctors and nurses, saying this is something the College has long called for.
“Training more doctors is essential to addressing the challenges that we know the healthcare system will face in the future, such as the rising demand that will come with an ageing population,” said Dr Sarah Clarke, president of the RCP.
“The shadow secretary of state’s speech also recognised that a lack of social care leads to people staying in hospital for longer than they need to. A long-term funding settlement for social care is vital to speeding up discharges from hospital and preventing admissions in the first place by enabling more people to live fulfilling, independent lives,” she added.
Dr Clarke also called on the Labour party to commit to addressing health inequalities if they were to win power, as “the best way to improve health is to focus on the factors that shape it”.
“Disappointing” for Labour to suggest the workforce is “somehow not trying hard enough”
However, Dr Farah Jameel, BMA England GP committee chair, said while it is good to see Labour recognising workforce challenges, “It’s disappointing to see politicians once again making divisive headline-grabbing promises that are not grounded in reality, and which suggest the existing workforce are somehow not trying hard enough”.
Dr Jameel is referring to Labour’s commitment to ensuring everyone can access face-to-face appointments in a timely manner. She pointed out that there are currently not enough doctors to support this plan, and while doubling medical training places is a “good policy” it won’t result in any immediate change.
As she explains: “[Increasing medical school places] won’t result in any newly-qualified GPs for another decade; all the while we are haemorrhaging early, mid-career and senior GPs.
“We urgently need a plan for retention, as well as recruitment, supporting GPs to stay in the workforce, which includes addressing unsustainable workloads and burn out, and long-term solutions to the pension tax trap that is leading doctors to retire early.”
The BMA are therefore urging the Labour party, and other politicians and policymakers, “to discuss meaningful and workable solutions with the profession.”
“They must stop playing around with patients’ lives, and end divisive rhetoric that heaps more expectations on to doctors already working at their limits – and who will be left shouldering the blame when they are ultimately unable to achieve undeliverable promises,” they conclude.
Addressing workload and workforce pressures
The Royal College of GPs have responded in a similar fashion, saying: “What we really need to address are the huge workload and workforce pressures that are the real reason why patients are facing such long waits to see a GP.”
“The College has always said that post-pandemic, patients should be able to access GP care and services in a variety of ways depending on their health needs and preferences. This is already happening. Many patients will prefer to see their GP in person, but many also find remote consulting convenient and effective, and we know that good, safe and appropriate care can be delivered remotely,” said Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the RCGP.
He is now calling on the government to pledge 11% of total health funding to general practice, invest in IT systems and premises, and “cut bureaucracy so that we can spend more time delivering the care our patients need and deserve.”