In My View: Janet Daby, MP for Lewisham East

As 2023 draws to a close, I want to wish everyone a happy Christmas and new year.

During this winter period, we need the NHS more than ever.

However, under this Conservative Government we have seen long waits for care and deteriorating services. This is not acceptable.

Rishi Sunak’s pledge to cut waiting lists has effectively been abandoned, with the Prime Minister choosing to blame NHS staff instead of fixing the problem himself.

Alongside the winter crisis, the NHS has many more challenges that impacts people across society.

I have also been greatly concerned about the ongoing severe shortage of ADHD medications for children and adults.

As a result, I wrote to the Secretary of Health and Social Care about this pressing issue.

In this letter I stated how so many people in Lewisham East, who have ADHD, (which is a recognised disability under the Equalities Act 2010), rely on medication to function.

Yet the inability to access to this medication is causing distress and disruption to their daily lives.

The letter asks the Secretary of State, what she is doing to boost supply of these vital ADHD medication while ensuring that safeguards to prevent this from happening again.

Despite sending this over one month ago, I have yet to receive a response, and I will continue to press the Government on this.

As the chairwoman of the Sickle Cell and Thalassemia All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), I have also witnessed how, despite Sickle Cell being the fastest-growing genetic condition, many patients have been ignored and let down for so long.

The No One’s Listening report, published by the APPG and the Sickle Cell Society, has found serious care failings in acute services and evidence of attitudes underpinned by racism.

I recently endorsed the Sickle Cell Society’s report on nursing that highlighted a shortage of specialist sickle cell nurses in the healthcare workforce.

These reports demonstrate that the way the NHS is run, despite the best efforts of many of its dedicated staff, is letting down too many underrepresented sections of society.

I have and will continue to campaign for many of the recommendations from these reports to be implemented.

Something needs to change. The evidence of the past 13 and a half years shows that the Conservative Party is not willing or able to deliver this change.

Labour on the other hand is committed to building an NHS fit for the future.

For instance, Labour plans to cut waiting lists to get the NHS back on its feet.

We will deliver two million more appointments in the evenings and weekends, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax break for the wealthiest.

Whether you need to see a GP, need to be admitted to A&E, need access to your medication or you have a genetic condition your situation has a better chance of improving under a Labour Government.