Consultation to decide future of NHS held in Calcot ahead of Labour’s 10 Year Health Plan

The MP for Reading West and Mid Berkshire met with constituents to discuss the future of the NHS last week.

Last Thursday, residents of Reading West and Mid Berkshire shared their experiences of using the NHS – and their ideas on how to improve it – at a workshop attended by Olivia Bailey MP in Calcot.

“We all know the challenges facing the NHS after 14 years of mismanagement and decline under the Conservatives,” she told newburytoday.

“I am very grateful to the residents who shared their experiences and their ideas. It was a really thoughtful conversation.”

Aylesbury MP Laura Kyrke-Smith, the Government’s health mission lead, also joined the session.

Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting has previously said: “The NHS is going through the worst crisis in its history. But while the NHS is broken, it’s not beaten. Together, we can fix it.

“Our 10 Year Health Plan will transform the NHS to make it fit for the future, and it will have patients’ and staff’s fingerprints all over it.”

Residents can visit the consultation platform at https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/projects/start-here

Or visit via the NHS app to share your views, experiences and ideas.

The National Health Service was founded in 1948 to provide free healthcare services for all.

But complaints of difficulties getting GP appointments, long waits in A&E, a lack of integrated care and poor working conditions for frontline workers have dominated the discourse surrounding this institution in recent years.

The Labour Government announced its Change NHS consultation in October to shape its new 10 Year Health Plan for England, which will be published in the spring.

The plan will focus on three big shifts in healthcare from hospital to community, analogue to digital and sickness to prevention.