THE world has changed out of recognition since our National Health Service was launched by the post-war Labour government back in 1948.
But its primary focus – to be free at the point of delivery and providing healthcare to everyone regardless of their financial status – has not altered one bit.
It set the standard for healthcare across the world and – despite some bumps in the road – it remains the envy of many countries.
Some of those bumps have been felt locally. Most recently that has included the proposals from the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board to permanently stop providing level three critical care at Furness General Hospital.
Thousands of members of the public signed my online petition to oppose this plan, and I have combined forces with the Mail in a joint campaign to urge health chiefs to think again.
So far, we’ve been successful in putting those proposals on hold, and we continue to call for them to be dropped altogether.
We have also had to grapple with more recent plans to close some beds in wards at FGH. This is part of the hospital trust’s drive to “breakeven” this April after years of underfunding left it £80m in debt as recently as 4 years ago.
While I have been assured that these bed reductions have not yet happened, and will not happen “imminently”, I have been clear that they should not be considered at all.
It is good news that the Trust is on its way back to financial health with the help of increased Government funding. But there should not be a blinkered mission to get back into the black this year.
That is a position that Health Secretary Wes Streeting supported when he recently voiced his concerns that some NHS Trusts have “over steered” in their efforts to get back to financial balance too quickly.
Instead, it is time we brought forward an ambitious vision for health care improvements across our area, with FGH as the cornerstone of that strategy.
I saw the possible opportunities recently when I visited the Alfred Barrow Health Centre to hear about the £7m revamp that will create a brand new neighbourhood health centre. This, alongside new investment in local primary care buildings, increased services at community locations like Ulverston Health Centre, and the new £6m diagnostic centre at FGH, are building the momentum we need.
We have the national and local support, the dedicated healthcare staff, and the investment needed.
Following the lead of the visionaries who built our NHS all those years ago, it is time for us to take the serious steps needed to create a new blueprint for the future of health service in our area.