Labour has been issued a stark warning as they face “mountain to climb” with the NHS, GB News’s political correspondent Katherine Forster has said.
Ahead of tomorrow’s Budget, Rachel Reeves has unveiled 250 neighbourhood health centres, pitched as one-stop hubs bringing GPs, dentists and pharmacists under one roof.
The Chancellor said: “At the Budget I’ll set out how we’ll deliver on the country’s priorities to cut NHS waiting times, cut debt and cut the cost of living.
“We’re driving down waiting lists by bringing healthcare to patients’ doorsteps and turbocharging NHS productivity with cutting-edge technology.
“Our record investment, combined with ruthless efficiency and reform, will deliver the better care and better outcomes our NHS patients deserve.”
But Katherine cautioned the rollout of this will take “years”, raising questions over when patients will actually feel the benefit.
The GB News political correspondent said: “Look, the waiting lists are still pretty horrendous.
“So at the moment we’ve got 7.4 million on NHS waiting lists. It’s down 200,000 since Labour came into power, but it’s still enormous.
Kathrine Forster warned Labour that the changes will take years
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GB NEWS
“Wes Streeting last week was sounding very upbeat, saying look, we’ve got 2,500 more doctors, cancer treatments improving and so on and so forth.
“But the Public Accounts Committee had a report out last week saying that basically progress in getting these waiting lists down has pretty much stalled.
“Of course people want to see and feel that things are getting better.
“I mean, to get an appointment at your local doctors, I don’t know if it applies to most people, but I can’t just ring up and ask for an appointment, even a routine appointment, because you get sent away to fill in a very long form.
Rachel Reeves is set to deliver the Budget tomorrow
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GB NEWS
“But you can’t ever go along now and talk about two or three things you’ve been storing up, because they will only talk about one thing at a time.
“So for all the Government is trumpeting these successes, are people feeling that the NHS is getting better?”
She added: “Of course, one of the biggest problems for the NHS is elderly people stuck in hospital at vast cost to the taxpayer, who cannot be discharged because there isn’t the care in place in the community.
“And of course, social care. That issue that’s been so difficult for so many Governments has yet again been kicked down the road.”
Ministers say sweeping NHS reforms are already underway with 18,000 management roles cut and NHS England being absorbed back into the Department of Health in a bid to drive money to the frontline.
The shake-up, the Government claims, will save more than £1billion a year by the end of the Parliament, enough to fund around 115,000 extra hip and knee operations.
Labour insists progress is already visible: the waiting list has reportedly fallen by more than 200,000 – the biggest drop in 15 years alongside 5.2 million additional appointments and 135,000 cancer diagnoses delivered within the 28-day target.
Downing Street argues those improvements are only possible because of record NHS funding, which the Chancellor plans to expand further in Wednesday’s Budget.
However, questions remain over whether savings, staffing cuts and structural reforms can keep pace with rising demand and whether patients will actually feel the difference.