In My View: Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood

Just before Christmas I visited the children’s Accident and Emergency unit at King’s College Hospital to meet with staff and to help decorate their Christmas tree, a tradition established by my predecessor as MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, Tessa Jowell, which I have continued.

Nurses, doctors and other hospital staff have worked incredibly hard in recent years during the Covid pandemic, but huge challenges remain even now that so many people across the UK have been successfully vaccinated and all of the Covid restrictions have been lifted.

My mum worked at King’s College Hospital and both of my children were born there, so like many other local residents the hospital is a very important place for me and my family, to which we owe a huge debt of gratitude.

This year we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of our NHS, but sadly 13 years of Conservative and Liberal Democrat austerity have left it really struggling and the lack of a long-term plan to train and retain the right staff has been disastrous.

Our hospitals are full to bursting and our Accident and Emergency departments are busier than they have ever been.

Staff in our NHS are being stretched to breaking point.

Labour has a fully costed plan to address the problems that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in government have created.

The next Labour Government will deliver a new 10-year plan for the NHS, including one of the biggest expansions of the NHS workforce in history, higher standards for patients, and a new model of care.

Labour will ensure fewer patients need to go to hospital, shifting resources to social care, GPs, care at home and mental health services, reducing the cost of hospital care in the long-term.

In the mean time I will continue to campaign for our local hospital and to reiterate my thanks on behalf of our whole community for the hard work of every nurse, doctor and health worker.