The Labour party has assured voters it has a “serious” plan to overturn huge NHS waiting times, a lack of GP appointments and the local dental crisis as it bids to win back support in the North East.  

Patients across the region have faced severe issues with booking an appointment or receiving treatment across multiple healthcare departments, either managed by the NHS or privately.

Now, several measures to improve the healthcare sector have been proposed by the Labour party as it appeals to voters to back them at the next election.

The party’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has pledged one of the biggest expansions of the NHS workforce in history as it looks to overturn decades of delay and disruption to key services.

“I want to make sure people know that we've got a strong plan for the future of the NHS because aside from the cost-of-living crisis, the crisis in the NHS is the biggest challenge facing our country right now,” he said on a visit to Darlington on Saturday.

“We've got a plan for childcare and children's education, especially given the way they've suffered during the pandemic. We've got a plan for the economy and a plan to tackle the cost of living, and Labour's led the way on that.

“We can see that with record numbers of people on NHS waiting lists, like the thousands of people in this part of the country alone.

“This doesn't look like a government that understands the pressures that ordinary people are facing. If this were a football match, the fans would start chanting at the manager: ‘you don't know what you're doing’.”

Read more: Woman waited so long to get a GP appointment she 'got the shingles'

The Northern Echo: Wes Streeting, Labour MP and Shadow Health Secretary, in DarlingtonWes Streeting, Labour MP and Shadow Health Secretary, in Darlington (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Streeting, an MP for Ilford on the London-Essex border, recovered from kidney cancer and talks passionately about how healthcare reforms will be a key component of the Labour manifesto at the next election.

He says his party is championing the “right policies and priorities” and is advocating simple messaging and realistic proposals. “We will have a series of simple, practical, achievable policies that people can have confidence in,” Streeting added.

Last week The Northern Echo reported a woman’s "impossible task" of getting a GPs appointment - which led to her getting so run down she caught shingles. It comes as NHS figures reveal that there are 123 fewer GPs across Durham, Darlington and Tees Valley today than in 2013.

But Corrine’s case is not unique, and thousands of people in the region sadly have similar shocking experiences. Darlington is one of a growing number of towns where people in need of routine dental care have been left with nowhere to turn.

The town has a population of more than 100,000 people – but the NHS Find a Dentist service flags up no dental practices with availability for patients without a referral. And in County Durham there are only 56 NHS-registered dentists for a population of 500,000 people.

These cases have become part of the reality for healthcare across the country but Streeting is committed to overturning the issues.  

The Northern Echo: People in need of routine dental care have been left with nowhere to turnPeople in need of routine dental care have been left with nowhere to turn (Image: The Northern Echo)

He explained: “This is an appalling state and these are almost Victorian conditions of the 21st century. I'm so angry because this is the consequence of people just waiting for something routine but we don't get to them and we end up with patients getting worse and sicker.  

“What the Tories misunderstand is that that mismanagement of the NHS in the last couple years is leaving some really serious and painful consequences for patients who aren't getting the care they need when they need it.”

Labour’s solution to the issue lies in training and recruitment; it plans to double the number of medical school places, create 10,000 new nursing and midwifery placements each year, and double the number of district nurses qualifying each year. The party promises that patients will be guaranteed a face-to-face appointment with a GP if they want one, a stark contrast, Streeting says, to the “outrageous failure” current target of seeing a GP within two weeks.

 

Read more: Revealed - The North East's 'dental deserts'

The shadow health secretary also visited Middlesbrough and Hartlepool while in the region yet with the next General Election not likely until 2024 at the latest, Labour still has to convince thousands of voters in regional constituencies to believe in their pledges and vote red.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do in the North East to rebuild trust with voters because I think whether it's the crisis in the NHS, the breakdown of law and order and the enormous cost of living crisis, expecting the Conservatives to solve these problems is a bit like asking an arsonist to put out the fire the created,” Streeting explained.

“I hope that what people are seeing from the Labour Party is a resurgent party with strong leadership, a strong team and a strong plan that has changed in response to the very clear message that voters gave us at recent elections.  

“Keir Starmer is a serious man with a serious plan and a strong team behind him that can be trusted to govern.”

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