Wokingham MP Clive Jones is set to back a Liberal Democrat amendment to the King’s Speech, calling for the government to address the health and care crisis.
This includes calls for a legal right to see a GP within seven days, and a guarantee for cancer patients to start treatment within 62 days.
This comes after shocking data revealed 732 patients were not seen within 62-days for a cancer referral in Royal Berkshire NHS Trust.
Nationally, data from the Office for National Statistics has found that 7% of those who tried to make contact with a GP practice didn’t manage to, meaning an equivalent to 1.84 million people are unable to have any contact with a GP.
Almost one in five (18%) people who tried to contact their GP said it took two days or more to either book an appointment or receive a response from a clinician.
This is equivalent to another 4.7 million people waiting two days or more to hear back after contacting their GP.
The Liberal Democrat amendment to the King’s Speech will also focus on social care, calling for free personal care in England and a cross party commission to put the sector on a sustainable financial footing.
Commenting on the amendment, Clive said:“After years of Conservative chaos, we have seen the NHS run into the ground, leaving millions waiting months or even years for vital treatment, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from getting back into work.
“It’s clear that if we can fix the NHS and care, we can start to rebuild the mess that the Conservatives have made of our economy.
“We were promised a new Royal Berkshire Hospital by the previous Conservative government, however no work has started and we don’t know when it will.
“Meanwhile patients and staff are forced to ensure appalling conditions in parts of the hospital including the chemotherapy ward which dates back to 1911. The lack of air conditioning there increases infection risk for vulnerable patients.
“In the election, the Liberal Democrats put health and social care at the heart of our manifesto. We will continue to push for our policies that millions of people voted for, to tackle the ongoing health and social care crisis, and kickstart the economy.”
