An NHS Fit for the Future
Labour is fixing the NHS after 14 years of Conservative neglect — cutting waiting lists, hiring more staff, bringing care closer to home, and making the health service fit for the future. Locally, that means more appointments, better access to GPs, and new community health services that put patients first.
Fixing the NHS Nationally
Labour inherited an NHS in the worst crisis in its history: record waiting lists, patients unable to see a GP or dentist, demoralised staff, and cancer survival rates lagging behind other countries. This Labour Government has started to turn things around.
Since coming into office, Labour has delivered 5.2 million extra NHS appointments — smashing the original two million target. Across the country, NHS waiting lists are down by 400,000, and ambulances are arriving 5 minutes faster to heart attack and stroke patients. More than 2,000 new GPs have been recruited, and urgent repairs have been carried out to more than 1,000 GP surgeries. Prescription charges have been frozen for the first time in years, keeping them under £10.
100 Community Diagnostic Centres are now open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, delivering vital tests and scans in the community.
Labour’s 10-Year Health Plan
Labour’s 10-Year Health Plan will deliver three big shifts in how the NHS works:
From hospital to community: A new neighbourhood health service is being launched across every part of the country, with 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres open 12 hours a day, six days a week. Deprived communities will be put first when it comes to creating them — meaning more care on your doorstep and easier access to your GP.
From analogue to digital: A transformed NHS app will become the digital front door to the NHS, making it possible to book appointments, manage medicines and view medical records at the touch of a button. Managing your care will become as easy as online banking.
From sickness to prevention: Labour will catch illness before it spreads and prevent it in the first place, including through tackling obesity. A supervised toothbrushing scheme for children is already being rolled out to prevent tooth decay. The ambition is to make this the healthiest generation of children ever.
The Threat from the Conservatives and Reform
The Conservatives left the NHS broken after 14 years in power — with waiting lists at record highs, staff demoralised, and outcomes on major killers like cancer lagging behind other countries.
Reform would make things even worse. They opposed Labour’s extra £26 billion a year for the NHS. Nigel Farage has said time and again that he wants to replace the NHS with an insurance-based system, opening up the risk of charging for GP appointments and operations. At their party conference, Reform even platformed an anti-vaccine doctor who claimed that Covid vaccines were linked to cancer.
Only Labour will protect and fix the NHS.
What Labour is delivering
- The NHS is delivering more appointments — 5 million extra in the first year — so patients are seen faster
- New GPs are being recruited and GP surgeries repaired, meaning better access to your family doctor
- Community Diagnostic Centres are bringing tests and scans closer to home, open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week
- 250 new Neighbourhood Health Centres will offer a full range of services on your doorstep
- Prescription charges are frozen, and Labour is investing in prevention to keep people healthier for longer
- Labour will always stand up for our NHS as a public service, free at the point of use — Reform would wreck it