Conservatives pledge £1bn to increase number of GP appointments – but will cut NHS management

Published

4 months ago

June 2, 2024

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The Conservative government has pledged £1bn a year in a bid to increase the number of GP appointments in the UK.

The Tories say they would build both GP surgeries and community diagnostic centres if they were re-elected to government.

The party wants to build 100 new GP surgeries and modernise another 150.

General election latest: Labour lead grows to high not seen since Truss

However, this bears echoes of the 2019 promise to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 – something the government will not be able to do, according to the National Audit Office.

The report released last year found only 32 of the 40 new hospitals promised by Boris Johnson would be built by the end of the decade – and some may be too small.

The Conservatives also want to increase the range of treatments available for people at pharmacies, after previously introducing the scheme.

They claim treating conditions such as acne and chest infections would free up 20 million GP appointments once fully fired up.

Rishi Sunak said: “The NHS is one of our most important national assets and the Conservatives are taking the long-term decisions to secure its future.

“As part of our clear plan we are investing in community services making it quicker, easier and more convenient for patients to receive the care they need and help to relieve pressure on hospital services.

“Only the Conservatives will take the bold action needed to secure the NHS’s future so that you can be safe in the knowledge that the NHS will be there for you and your family whenever you need it.”

It comes as the Tories continue to languish in the polls behind Labour.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told the Mail on Sunday that his party’s tax cuts failed to draw in voters – and also said another cut would not have changed opinions.

He said: “The fact that we’ve had two significant tax cuts that haven’t really changed the polls demonstrates to me that having a third one with the same again is unlikely to change the calculus.”

He added: “The Bank of England’s view is that there’s an 18-month delay between changing interest rates and it impacting on people’s finances… so the idea that you have a drop in interest rates and suddenly everyone feels good… is to underestimate how people are making this decision.”

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The government’s healthcare pledge will require an extra £1bn by the end of the decade, and will be funded by cutting NHS managers to pre-COVID levels and reducing the use of management consultants, they said.

The announcement comes as Labour announced its plans for cutting legal migration.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “The Conservatives have broken their manifesto promise to recruit more GPs, instead cutting 1,700 since 2016 and closing down more than 450 GP practices.

“Patients are finding it harder than ever before to see a GP, so why would they trust this latest empty promise?

“The doctor can’t see you now, and it will only get worse if the Tories are given another five years.

“Labour will train thousands more GPs and cut the red tape that ties up GPs’ time, so we can bring back the family doctor.”

Politics

Lisa Nandy says Sir Keir Starmer ‘very sensible’ to accept football tickets worth thousands

Published

4 hours ago

September 21, 2024

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Lisa Nandy says Sir Keir Starmer 'very sensible' to accept football tickets worth thousands

Lisa Nandy has said Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to accept thousands of pounds worth of football tickets was “very sensible”.

The minister for culture, media and sport also said she had never accepted free clothes from a donor.

Speaking to Sky News at the start of the Labour Party conference today, the MP for Wigan said: “The problem that has arisen since [Sir Keir] became leader of the opposition and then prime minister is that for him to sit in the stands would require a huge security detail, would be disruptive for other people and it would cost the taxpayer a lot of money.

“So I think he’s taken a very sensible decision that’s not the right and appropriate thing to do, and it’s right to accept that he has to go and sit in a different area.

“But I know that he’d much rather be sitting in the stands cheering people on with the usual crowd that he’s been going to the football with for years.”

Ms Nandy also said while she has not accepted free clothes – joking “I think you can probably see that I choose my own clothes sadly” – she doesn’t “make any judgements about what other members of parliament do”.

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She said: “The only judgement I would make is if they’re breaking the rules, so they’re trying to hide what they’re doing. That’s when problems arise.

“Because the point of being open and transparent is that people can see where the relationships are, and they can then judge for themselves whether there’s been any undue influence.”

She asserted there had not been an undue influence in gifts accepted by senior Labour figures, adding: “We don’t want the news and the commentary to be dominated by conversations about clothes.

“We rightly have a system, I think, where the taxpayer doesn’t fund these things. We don’t claim on expenses for them. And so MPs will always take donations, will always take gifts in kind.

“MPs of all political parties have historically done that and that is the system that we have.”

She added: “I don’t think there’s any suggestion here that Keir Starmer has broken any rules. I don’t think there’s any suggestion that he’s done anything wrong.

“We expect our politicians to be well turned out, we expect them to be people who go out and represent us at different events and represent the country at different events and are clothed appropriately.

“But the point is that when we accept donations for that or for anything else, that we declare them and we’re open and transparent about them.”

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Sir Keir, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves said yesterday they will no longer accept donations in the future to pay for clothes.

The announcement followed criticism of Sir Keir’s gifts from donors, which included clothing worth £16,200 and multiple pairs of glasses worth £2,485, according to the MPs’ register of interests.

The register shows Ms Rayner has accepted clothing donations to the value of £2,230.

Sky News also revealed the scale of Sir Keir’s donations this week as part of our Westminster Accounts investigation.

Sir Keir was found to have received substantially more gifts and freebies than any other MP – his total in gifts, benefits, and hospitality topped £100,000 since December 2019.