A Fair Deal for the NHS
Chris Coghlan, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate here, explained, “Good health gives people the freedom to live the lives they choose, and a thriving economy needs a healthy population.
“The Conservatives have plunged the NHS into crisis. They have run local health services into the ground, putting people, buildings and beds under immense pressure. With 112,000 staff vacancies in England, long waiting times, missed targets and poor outcomes, patient safety is being pushed into the danger zone.”
While the issues are complex and have been allowed to build over a long time, people are no longer confident they will get the medical help they need, when they need it most. In response, if Chris Coghlan is elected as your next MP, he will join other Lib Dem MPs to campaign for:
* Giving everyone the right to see their GP within seven days, or within 24 hours if they urgently need to.
* Reform of NHS dentistry so that no one is forced to pay hundreds of pounds for private care.
* A programme to put mental health on the same footing as physical health.
* Investment in public health and prevention so that fewer people get ill and need treatment.
* Funding to recruit, train and retain more doctors and nurses, to fill thousands of vacancies in the NHS and cut waiting times.
* Emergency funding to fix the life- threatening crisis in ambulance services and to tackle poor response times.
* Investment in Social Care services, to free-up beds and ease pressure on the NHS.
Local Communities Show The Way
Westvale Residents Association in Horley has been working hard and trying to get support from local NHS organisations to secure even basic local services.
Residents will be only too familiar with the “moonscape” in the middle of the estate. And, although work has finally started on the health centre, after years of delays, it is not clear what it will include - a local GP practice now seems very unlikely which leaves residents in limbo.
Lib Dem parliamentary candidate, Chris Coghlan said. “This shocking situation is a result of the chronic lack of investment in NHS infrastructure. This Conservative Government has hollowed out our vital public services. It’s been their political choice not to provide local government and healthcare providers with the funding they need to plan and run the services that our communities deserve.
“But, it’s amazing to witness what local Lib Dem councillors and their communities can achieve by working together. In 2019, they saved the Molebridge GP Practice in Fetcham from closure which has since gone from strength to strength.”
Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, visited the practice during 2023 to meet staff. They discussed initiatives to tackle years of Tory neglect and indifference towards the NHS, its staff and patients.
GP Partner, Dr Hilary Floyd, explained how integrating medical healthcare with other professionals and community groups is generating a holistic local health service incorporating food banks, community hubs, childcare, elderly care, fitness, social support, jobs and training.
