‘It’s clear the Tories are trying to slice up the NHS and hand it over to the private sector, instead of trying to fix it for us all’-Councillor Darren Rodwell.

‘The NHS is our greatest national asset, but the Tories have run it into the ground’-Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council.

Councillor Darren Rodwell, the Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council today writes:

I owe my life to the NHS, and it’s saved me and my family countless times, as I’m sure it will have done for everyone reading this. But we can’t go on with a system that needs you to call up at 8am and beg for a GP appointment. We can’t go on with a system where tooth decay is the number one reason for kids being admitted to hospital. We can’t go on expecting our hardworking NHS staff to put up with being overworked on low-wages.

We need change at the top, and a Labour government is the best option for that. I’m a Labour candidate who runs a Labour council, so you’d expect me to say that. But the truth is we need to reform the NHS for the modern era, and that means putting the power in the hands of local decision makers. Without those two things combined, we’re not going to be able to guarantee the NHS for the next generation and the one after that, and as a dad and granddad that terrifies me.

One of my first roles as an activist, long before I was a councillor, was on the Barking and Dagenham Primary Care Trust. It wasn’t perfect, but it put the needs of each community at the heart of decisions around our healthcare system. Labour has promised more at-home care and testing, and would match the needs of the community to the actions of the NHS. That is at the core of Labour’s plans, and if elected I will push for it every day, because I know how important it is to each and every one of us that we and our neighbours are treated with the dignity and respect we deserve.

I know some readers of this article won’t be from Barking and the heart of Dagenham. But because of the way the NHS is run, it’s likely that everyone will recognise the same issues. We’ve got one of the worst performing hospitals in the country, one of the lowest numbers of GPs surgeries and dangerously long queues in our A&Es.

If I could waive a magic wand and build a shiny new hospital with a nurse for every patient, in every town in the country, I would. But the Tories have wrecked the economy and the next Labour government will have to do more with less. That’s why Labour has pledged to look at exactly what our communities need and identify the best way to ensure our NHS is fighting fit.

There is an alternative to Tory chaos. There’s an alternative where patients aren’t lining corridors waiting to be seen by overworked, underpaid staff. There’s an alternative where the concept of a family doctor is a reality again for Londoners. There’s an alternative where a proper social care system stops our most vulnerable neighbours from having to go into hospital because they’re properly looked after before, during and after they’re ill.

It’s clear the Tories are trying to slice up the NHS and hand it over to the private sector, instead of trying to fix it for us all. The billions wasted on inadequate PPE contracts for their dodgy donors are proof of that. Let’s leave the scalpels to the doctors and get on with fixing it.

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