The NHS is always fairly high up the list of things constituents get in touch with me about, however, it’s fair to say the volume of concerns I’m hearing now is at an all-time high. Our beloved health service is in an absolute state.

Unacceptable waits for an ambulance. Unacceptable waits in A&E. Unacceptable difficulties accessing a GP appointment. Unacceptable hours and even days waiting for a call back from NHS 111. Overworked staff, doctors and nurses on their knees; patients left exasperated, occasionally with tragic outcomes. This is beyond regular winter pressures. This is an underfunded NHS creaking at the seams, facing its greatest crisis yet.

That’s why this week Labour led a debate in Parliament on the Government’s mismanagement of the NHS.  An unacceptable 7 million people are now waiting months and even years for treatment, held back from living their lives to the full. Last month 1.4 million people waited more than 4 weeks for GP appointment. Under the last Labour Government, you were seen within two days.

The Tories are hiding behind paper thin excuses about Covid, Flu and Strep. Winter viruses are not the problem. The weather -another scapegoat they’ve cited- is not the problem. Thirteen years of chronic neglect and abject failure to train, recruit and retain staff is the problem. Hardworking staff are doing the work of several people, burned out and feeling less valued than ever. Until we address this, waiting times will just keep growing.

I have full confidence that a Labour government fix this mess, just as we did before. We will pull every available lever to get patients treated sooner and train a new generation of doctors, nurses, and midwives to treat patients on time again.

Labour will double the number of medical school places, train 10,000 extra nurses and midwives every year, double the number of district nurses qualifying each year and create 5,000 more health visitors paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status, because patients need treatment more than the wealthiest need a tax break.

Labour will put patients first and enable them to easily book appointments to see the doctor they want, the way they want –face to face, by phone, or online. We will make the NHS fit for the future, so it delivers better care for the patient and better value for the taxpayer. Prevention is better than cure, so we shift the focus out of the hospital and into the community.

More doctors, more nurses, shorter waiting times, better care. That’s the difference a Labour government will make. I hope it happens soon. The longer the Conservatives are in power, the longer patients will wait.