• May 29, 2024

Labour to bring in new NHS rules from July with ‘evening and weekend clinics’ if they win elections

Labour to bring in new NHS rules from July with ‘evening and weekend clinics’ if they win elections

LONDON May 29: Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer has promised to send in crack teams to turbocharge the NHS with evening and weekend clinics. Labour leader Sir Keir has spoken out over his plans for NHS reforms ahead of the imminent General Election, set to be held on July 4.

“This has to be done with NHS staff, not to NHS staff, so we won’t do what this Government does and bash and blame NHS staff. We will work with them on this. The team at St Thomas’ that have already done this will be a crack team that we will use going across the country to work with us to set this up at speed,” he said.

Discussing the backlog, Sir Keir added: “Eight million is shocking. That means that, almost everybody or somebody in their family or friends, somebody they know will be on a waiting list. That is huge discomfort and pain and real harm.”

Measures will include doubling the number of scanners to diagnose patients sooner, using spare capacity in the private sector without charging patients, and delivering what Labour claims will be “the biggest expansion of NHS staff in history”, according to reports.

“That’s the human cost of this Government’s chaos and lack of grip on the NHS,” he added. He said: “I understand that pride and that complete desire to deliver the best possible care to their patients and the complete frustration that NHS staff would be put in this position by the Government.”

Sir Keir will point to Labour’s previous record in government under Tony Blair, saying: “We did it before and we will do it again.” He said hospitals will be told to start establishing both weekend and evening clinics “on day one” if his party wins the general election on 4 July, Birmingham Mail reported.

Sir Keir added: “The NHS is personal to me. It runs through my family. That’s why I’m utterly committed to reforming this service, getting the NHS back on its feet, and making it fit for the future.”