NHS privatisation challenge; a challenge for David Amess

Created in 1948 by the then Attlee-led Labour Government, the NHS is one of our greatest achievements and our most important institution. But it is under threat from a Conservative-led government which puts privatisation before patient care.

We need action to save our NHS. This is why I am backing Labour MP Clive Efford’s Bill which would scrap David Cameron’s new market framework for the NHS and ensure NHS patients will always be put first.

The NHS has never been more vulnerable than under the present government. The Conservatives wasted £3 billion on an unnecessary and damaging top-down reorganisation. The new rules allow hospitals to earn up to 49 per cent of their income from private patients, which risks pushing NHS patients to the back of the queue. And their new competition rules force doctors to open up services to competition from the private sector.

Labour will ensure that the NHS once again puts patients before profits. We will invest the millions of pounds saved from scrapping competition red tape in ensuring people can get a GP appointment within 48 hours, or on the same day if they need it.

I have no hesitation in backing this bill as it will make sure patients in Southend West are put first once again. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for our current MP. That’s why I’m challenging David Amess to back the Bill and vote for it in Parliament on 21st November.

Patients in Southend West are relying on him to do the right thing by backing this Bill so that we can put an end to market forces being put at the heart of the NHS. David Amess is fond of saying how he always puts his constituents first; its time he backed this up with action by voting for this Bill on 21st November.

The Conservatives have not just destabilised our health service; they are holding it back from meeting the challenges of the 21st century as well. We need to pass this new Bill so we can end the creep towards NHS privatisation, bureaucracy and red-tape, and instead put patients back at the heart of the NHS . Labour will rescue the NHS with our £2.5 billion Time to Care package which will fund new staff including 20,000 more nurses – investment the Conservatives will not match