Two North East MPs have slammed the Government's record when it comes to NHS cancer care and building the health service workforce.
Speaking during an opposition day debate in the House of Commons, Labour MPs Chi Onwurah (Newcastle Central) and Grahame Morris (Easington) both grilled health minister Helen Whately over the Government's management of the NHS. This comes as the health services looks back on a winter of unprecedented challenges, while strike action continues to disrupt efforts to tackle surgery backlogs.
Ms Onwurah attacked the Government's refusal to close the "non-dom loophole" in order to provide extra NHS funding. This is how the Labour Party has said it would fund a substantial boost in the numbers of doctors and nurses.
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Speaking in a debate led by the Labour Party's shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, the Newcastle MP said: "Does he agree that the lack of support for a workforce plan, and the deliberate running down of the NHS, will prevent it from being able to take on and take up changes in technology, innovation, processes and treatment that could ensure better healthcare with less cost, enabling the NHS of the future to provide the support and treatment that the British people deserve?"
Later, as Helen Whately - a minister working in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) under Health Secretary Steve Barclay - responded, Ms Onwurah went on to say: "I am pleased to hear the Minister say that it is the Government’s duty to look at every available option.
"During the pandemic, I take it that she clapped on her doorstep for the NHS workforce who did so much to get us through it, so why will she not look at the option of abolishing the non-dom tax loophole, to fund more nurses and doctors and a better NHS in future?"
Mr Morris criticised the Government decision to drop its 10-year-cancer plan. He said: "Is it not incredible that we do not have a plan for dealing with cancer—the Government have dropped the 10-year cancer plan—particularly at a time when 50,000 patients a month are having to wait more than two weeks between diagnosis and seeing a specialist? We need a plan that incorporates workforce recruitment and retention."
Later, Mr Morris added: "There is information out there that the incidence of cancer is increasing. To get value for money, would it not be sensible for the Government to invest in precision radiotherapy, as a treatment that improves patient outcomes in a cost-effective manner? That would get the best value for money for the taxpayer."
In response, the junior minister Ms Whately - who attended the debate on Tuesday in lieu of her boss Steve Barclay who was at the time meeting the Royal College of Nursing amid the continuing pay dispute and industrial action - said: "I am very happy to talk about our NHS workforce at a time when we have record numbers of doctors and nurses working in our health service.
"I am equally happy to talk about our social care workforce, the very people [shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting] seems to forget time and time again.
"In contrast, the Government are working with our whole health and social care workforce, not only training record numbers of doctors and nurses, and recruiting a whole host of healthcare professionals into the NHS, but bringing historic reforms for the social care workforce—all that despite the global pandemic, which created the most challenging backdrop any Government have faced for decades."
This comes as a damning report from the cross-party Public Accounts Committee of MPs has highlighted how the NHS in England will miss key targets for recovery of the health service, including treating people for cancer.
The committee said the plan for tackling Covid backlogs, set out by NHS England and the Government last year, was already “falling short” and was based on “over-optimistic” assumptions about low levels of Covid and minimal pressure on the health service this winter.
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