MANIFESTO FOR THE NHS
THE NHS should be publicly provided, publicly delivered and free at the point of use.
The BMA believes that healthcare funding is a basic function of Government and the NHS must continue to be funded directly through general taxation.
There is a good focus on improving mental health services in this manifesto. Doctors have repeatedly raised concerns about the state of mental health services and the need to improve the outcomes for their patients suffering with mental health problems.
It’s particularly welcome to see a commitment to ending out-of-area placements.
It can be an incredible wrench for patients, especially children and young people, to leave their homes and families at a time when they are at their most vulnerable.
The current crisis in social care is a direct result of inadequate funding, so any additional investment is a step in the right direction. Providing more joined up health and social care is another welcome measure. Improved integration between health and social care services would help patients move from hospital to social care settings more easily.
There is an important acknowledgement of how staff shortages affect the delivery of safe, high quality patient care, particularly in general practice which is experiencing a workforce crisis.
We should be cautious, however, of the plans to extend GP opening hours without first providing the necessary doctors and funding. GPs already pro- vide around-the-clock care and all GP practices must have measures in place for patients who need access to a GP out-of-hours.
Many GP practices already offer evening and weekend appointments, and there are examples where extended opening has been abandoned due to lack of demand.
Scrapping the pay cap will be welcomed by doctors and other frontline NHS staff.
Ongoing pay restraint has seen doctors’ pay fall by up to 17% in recent years, exacerbating staff shortages and impacting on patient care.
Pay for doctors should be treated in line with the wider economy, where pay settlements continue to run at higher than the public sector pay policy cap.
The promise to guarantee the rights of EU citizens working in the NHS is vital to ensure we have enough doctors, nurses and carers to provide safe, high-quality patient care.
For the thousands of European doctors working in the UK, Brexit has led to anxiety and uncertainty as to whether they and their families will have the right to stay here.
Addressing the crisis in our health service must be a priority for the next government, our NHS is one of the best health systems in the world but needs credible, sustainable plans to deliver the high-quality care that staff want to provide and patients deserve.