The future of our NHS has featured little in the Labour leadership election. Indeed, the only candidate who has consistently talked about their plans for the future of our health and care services is Andy Burnham. But it’s no surprise other candidates have been quiet. The key elements of health and social care policy in the Labour manifesto for the 2015 general election remain the appropriate prescription to repair the damage to our services. And the architect of those policies was Andy Burnham.
Those policies included a substantial increase in NHS funding now, not in 2020; full integration of health and social care; a renewed emphasis on prevention and public health; a commitment to stop the Tory drive to privatise our NHS; a key role for local government and their health and wellbeing boards; and, a rejection of any further top-down reorganisation of the NHS. Andy Burnham’s outstanding work as shadow secretary of state for health has kept the NHS in the forefront of public consciousness and his staunch opposition to privatisation of the NHS shows he is prepared to fight for what he believes in.
The future of the NHS may well be at stake in the 2020 general election. The leader of the opposition will need to be a champion for the NHS, and be prepared to defend it against Tory attacks. We are convinced that Andy Burnham is that leader. We have no doubt that he is the best person to fight for the NHS and to lead Labour into the next general election.
Dr Kailash Chand OBE GP, Tameside
Prof Clare Gerada MBE GP, London
Dr. Kumar Kotegaonkar MBE GP, Bury
Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran Emeritus professor of obstetrics & gynaecology, St George’s University of London
Dr Gabriel Scally Public health physician, Bristol
Dr JS Bamrah Consultant psychiatrist, Manchester
Dr Zahid Chauhan GP, Manchester
Dr Ashok Atrey GP, Lancashire
Dr Tariq Chauhan GP, Manchester
Dr Ranjit Sumra Consultant neurophysiologist, Warrington
• As NHS doctors, working in diverse fields, we have been following the Labour leadership contest with interest. Over the past few years we have witnessed at first hand the asphyxiation of the NHS under the Conservatives and we steel ourselves for a fresh onslaught on our working conditions as Jeremy Hunt prepares to impose unsafe and unjust contracts on doctors and allied health professionals. Ill-conceived government policy is resulting in a dangerously resource-constrained environment. We are therefore compelled to speak out. It is our ethical duty to do so, given our role as defenders of the public’s health.
It is our belief that Jeremy Corbyn is the only candidate with both the desire and the ability to resist the Conservative consensus. There is overwhelming evidence, both domestically and internationally, that austerity and a commercialised health service result in widened health inequalities and worsened overall population health outcomes. Yet, to our dismay, it appears that the other Labour leadership candidates have accepted austerity; they have reconciled themselves to the most socially unjust economic policy of the past 50 years. We need an opposition leader who will be unafraid to stand up for the NHS. We need a leader who values the NHS workforce. That is why we support Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader. It is our view that a Corbyn victory in 2020 is not only possible, it is necessary, if the continued existence of an NHS is to be assured.
Dr Yannis Gourtsoyannis Infectious diseases
Dr Sarah Hallett Paediatrics
Dr Priyo Ghosh Psychiatry
Dr Sara Boyd Infectious diseases
Dr Michael Ambler Intensive care medicine
Dr Janitha Gowribalan Acute medicine
Dr Rita Issa General medicine
Dr Lauren Robson General medicine
Dr Chris Eades Infectious diseases
Dr Raj Sidhu Anaesthetics
• David Brindle is quite right that cutting public health funding is “a silly mistake” (Osborne’s public health cut is a blunder too far, 2 September). When Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, appeared before the health committee in July, I asked him how he expected the NHS to make the unprecedented £22bn of savings which the government has demanded. About half of his lengthy answer could be summed up in a single word: prevention. To take just one example, the borough which I represent has the highest number of hospital admissions related to alcohol abuse of any local authority in London. Each admission costs the NHS more than £2,000 on average. The public health grant which George Osborne is about to cut helps pay for simple interventions, like screening for alcohol abuse at GP surgeries, that cost a tiny fraction of what the NHS pays further down the line. To describe this approach, in the words of the King’s Fund, as “the falsest of false economies” seems to me almost an understatement.
Emily Thornberry MP
Labour, Islington South and Finsbury,Commons health select committee
